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I don’t remember much about this forum. I wasn’t even 100% sure I was there, even though the date is in my diary.
But Barmy Kev’s MTWD report confirms that I was there – click here.
That report contains everything you need to know…
…and far more besides.
I remembered that we had done the Lord’s T20 thing with John and family a couple of times, but it wasn’t until I found diary/e-mail references to this Sunday afternoon gig that I realised that there were several years between visits.
I had written up the 2007 visit under assumed names for MTWD – see this Ogblog piece for the text of that masterpiece.
I recall that, in many ways, the 2010 outing was more successful. None of the Friday afternoon/evening stress – this was a Sunday afternoon outing in good weather.
I think the girls had genuinely enjoyed the Lord’s visit in 2007 so had been really looking forward to this afternoon visit and they weren’t disappointed.
John was possibly a little disappointed by the result – another “close but no cigar” match for Essex. Here is a link to the scorecard.
I seem to recall the weather smiling on us that first half of June, which made the unseasonable cold snap the following weekend all the more surprising…but that’s another Ogblog story all together – click here for that.
The diary suggests that I originally planned to go with Michael to Lord’s on 4 June day for a “stumpfmerde” (bullshit session at cricket), but as we had a mini works outing the night before to see a T20 match between Middlesex and Sussex, I have a feeling that Michael and I moved the “stumpf” until later in the season.
The Thursday mini works outing comprised me, Jez, Monique, Steph, Rich and Grant. That season, Jez and I were organising several mini-outings to the T20 matches, rather than the slightly larger whole team outings that became the norm in later years. The weather was especially good that June – as Monique wrote the next day:
Thanks for last night. It was so nice to be able to sit in the sun! And now to take the mickey out of Jez…
Still, I took the Friday off and went to Lord’s to see Day One of the Northants match, probably taking a wad of reading with me, as was my wont.
I can see that I had an exchange of messages with Peter Sheldrake, aka Comebackgatt, with a view to meeting up at Lord’s which, on this occasion, didn’t happen.
What do I mean, “on this occasion”? It never happened. Despite several attempts.
Still, at least Comebackgatt wrote up the day for MTWD – click here.
Here is a link to the scorecard – Middlesex fans of a nervous disposition shouldn’t look.
I don’t think I stayed much past tea as Janie and I were meeting Anthea and Mitchell later:
Come, Been and Gone, aka I Like My Job, Michael Clark Company, Barbican, 4 June 2010
Following the phenomenal success of my MTWD T20 Glossary in 2008, which almost without question ensured, single handed, that Middlesex won the competition…
…it seemed sensible to update the glossary a couple of years later.
Here is a link to that 2008 glossary.
If anything were to go awry with the MTWD website, here is a scrape of that piece.
I don’t think this update was as successful as the original. For sure Middlesex were nowhere near as successful in 2010.
For some reason, the page on the MTWD site seems to have picked up some corruption, but the scrape of the page to Ogblog is legible, so I am linking on to that – here.
In truth I didn’t remember much about this forum – I needed to revert to the MTWD report to refresh my memory of it.
Unusually early in the season and it seems (less unusually) we ended up in the Tavern afterwards.
This was another of those days when I hoped to see some cricket at Uxbridge but the weather was set foul. My track record over the years on days when I want to go to Middlesex out grounds can only be described as terrible…almost as terrible as Middlesex’s 2009 season.
Middlesex were having a shocking season that year, so it was hard to get reporters. Hence Hippity volunteered to go to Uxbridge and then write this one up…at least that’s what the editor was told.
Hippity’s writing career mercifully tailed off after the 2009 season, with just the occasional piece for MTWD or King Cricket subsequently.
Here is the 15 September 2009 report: Soggy Tail From Uxbridge.
Just in case anything ever happens to MTWD, I have scraped the piece to Ogblog – only click the link below if the link above doesn’t work:
Middlesex till we die – Soggy Tail From Uxbridge
Here is the scorecard from the inevitable draw.
For the record, rabbit-friendly “Uncail Victor at Uxbridge” is Vic Demain, who has gone on to grander things – at the time of writing he is groundsman at Chester-Le-Street. Not so rabbit-friendly “Uncail Micheál at Lord’s” is Mick Hunt.
I vaguely remember Tim Groenewald being taken poorly towards the end of this match and there being a resulting health scare (unfounded as it turned out) about both squads. The details are lost in the mists of my memory, although linger somewhere on the message boards. I do remember him being a bit of a thorn in Middlesex’s side on subsequent meetings over the years though.
As for the scurrilous suggestion that Middlesex might end that rotten season coming bottom of the second division, that was an outrage. Middlesex in fact came second from bottom, a full two points clear of the county championship wooden spoon – click here to see the table. Middlesex are yet to “win” that particular wooden spoon ever, I believe.
This was clearly one of those days when I had expected/hoped for more cricket time than I actually got.
But I was the MTWD match reporter, so I did my bit – click here.
Just in case anything ever happens to MTWD, I have scraped the piece to Ogblog – only click the link below if the link above doesn’t work:
Middlesex till we die – Tomorrow Belongs To M(iddl)e
Turns out it was a fairly prescient report; not so in the matter of Adam London, but Messrs Robson, Malan and Compton certainly formed a nucleus for Middlesex’s improvement and success, following the dog days of the late noughties.
Following my marking days at Lord’s earlier in the month, this was judgement day.
But it was also the day of the Pro40 day/night match between Middlesex and Lancashire, so Janie and I arranged to meet Charlie and Chris at Lord’s.
The best laid plans…but the weather had other ideas.
I wrote a report on this one for King Cricket – click here. Lavender, Escamillo Escapillo and Stentor Baritone all make their inaugural appearances in this report, which got some fun comments too.
Just in case anything ever happens to King Cricket, I have scraped the piece to Ogblog – only click the link below if the link above doesn’t work:
Middlesex v Lancashire Pro 40 match report
We made the most of it and still had an enjoyable evening of sorts.
I spent a fair bit of time at Lord’s days 1, 2 and 4 for this match.
Days 1 & 2 I was marking Payroll Giving Awards applications; I was chairing those awards back then. My habit was to take the file down to Lord’s – find a relatively quiet spot and do the marking in the open air.
Day 4 (the Friday) I was supposed to have meetings in the middle of the day, but I think they got shifted to/combined with my Thursday meetings.
I don’t recall a great deal about the cricket, other than Middlesex making a very generous declaration on Day 4 (I think we were a bit desperate for wins at that stage of the season), which Essex gobbled up with relative ease. I recall that Fletch was fuming about the declaration when I ran into him towards the end of the match.
I was the guest of Mark and Geoffrey Yeandle at Canterbury that day. We had a very enjoyable day – Canterbury is a charming place to watch county cricket.
I wrote up the day for MTWD:
Kent Knackered At Nackington Road – MTWD report – click here.
Just in case anything ever happens to MTWD, I have scraped the piece to Ogblog – only click the link below if the link above doesn’t work:
Middlesex till we die – KENT KNACKERED AT NACKINGTON ROAD
And if you really want to know what happened, statistically speaking, here is the scorecard from that match – click here.