The Full Toss

In case you were wondering, I was on holiday last week. While the lads were capitulating pathetically at Lord’s, and winning convincingly at Old Trafford, I was stumbling from vineyard to vineyard in the Loire. The highlight was listening to TMS while being driven around Sancerre (yes, you can still pick up 198 long wave that far south). Although I’ve not watched any of the second test so far, I’m not at all surprised how things have unfolded. Once England won the toss on what was described as...

I love a proper day’s cricket. And I love it when people older than me score test centuries. Yesterday was therefore a winner. The day obviously belonged to Misbah, the smiling, press-up-ing, Pakistani lynchpin. What a player. What a man. And what a moment when he reached his century – at the ripe old age of 42 – and then did a quick workout on the Lord’s square. Peter Moores would’ve definitely approved … and then suggested a 5k run to really intimidate the opposition. Thanks to the evergreen...

You know what? I’m actually quite excited. It’s been a while since we’ve seen some competitive test cricket and I’ve rather missed it. Although the World T20 was entertaining, and England did surprisingly well the reach the final, tense test cricket reaches the parts other sports cannot reach. Limited overs games, and the walkovers we saw during the Sri Lanka tour, don’t quite satisfy. Because I’m looking forward to Lord’s so much, I’m slightly alarmed and disappointed that the...