Josh Tongue had a good debut against Ireland. At one point it was ‘Tongue to Stirling’ which had a reverse Anglo-Irish irony. Lords looked very beautiful on the Telly. The highlights of Pope and Duckett sharing a massive partnership were very special. A 10 wicket victory is as convincing as it gets. Here’s to the Ashes.

England ODI team flunked in Bangladesh, but great to see Archer arching has back again. Sri Lanka and Windies battling it out. Lovely to see Chris Gayle still out there. IND v AUS good match in Mumbai. What a place. The Oval (London) will be a hot ticket Early June. Tailenders podcast still truckin’. Matchin is a West of England gem. Evidently Jimmy has played alongside 97 debutantes since his own first cap for England. Who will be the 100th?

It’s all very well in hindsight saying why was the follow-on enforced, but presumably Stokes consulted Broad, Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Jack Leach and they were all up for it, as were the rest. Anyway, NZ posting close to 500 would never have been the plan, but it does set up a very interesting Day 5. Crawley never looked entirely comfortable and at 39-1, a nightwatchman was sent in.

I think it will be an enthralling final day.

I thought 342 would be enough in the 2nd ODI. Evidently not. Well played Bavuma. Good to watch a lot of the match in Bloemfontein. Peachy weather. 2-0. Done deal. Butler’s 94* was good to watch. Shame Archer wasn’t playing in the 2nd game, but he went for 81 runs in his comeback match. From TMS I learnt that he has 6 dogs he walks in Brighton. Good chat about Steve Smith playing down in Sussex for 3 matches this coming Summer and the fact that our Jofra will be sending a few down in the nets.

From the Mankad in the Women’s Cricket to over 500 runs scored in a day in the Men’s Cricket, there were some good soundbites on the TMS broadcast; not least JA’s obvious glee at ENG beating IND in AUS in the white ball. I enjoyed listening to the BS interview. A loss is a loss and a win is a win. Play golf. Don’t wear socks. To 2023. The tests in NZ will be keenly followed.

Excellent to see England win 3-0 in Pakistan. Let us hope Ahmed has many more Michelle Pfeiffers up his sleeve. Being bunkered down in Hainan, it’s been a treat to hear BBC broadcasts of Beefy on R4 and The Tailenders Podcast. 

The Amalgams sung on The Christmas Special were quite splendid. CRUSIC ~ yes.

Australia giving SA a tough time Down Under and thousands of more runs between NZ and PAK in Pakistan. Lots to look forward to in 2023 : not just the Ashes in England, but ODIS in Bangladesh and SA and tests against NZ.

26.. always a number that gets referred to by the Statisticians. Look it up. Eng v Nz back in the day.

Anyway, the 2nd Test in Pakistan was touch and go, but good to see England sneak a victory. Simple Economics has meant the Cricket ground in Pakistan is no longer so central, and does not get the same footfall. Sad, as the stands looked quite empty.

South Africa have lost four early ones Down Under this morning, but are currently making some kind of a comeback. It’s great to finally have Live Cricket on my Laptop. I can’t quite work out how the Company does it, but at £3 a month I’m sure if Del boy had had anything to do with the internet this would have been a contender.

Finally England are touring Pakistan again. A seventeen year gap. Good photos of our 40 year old Jimmy touring from last time and receiving the MOTM award. What a career. It was an enthralling Test Match. Four English centurions in the first innings, Pakistan knocking off plenty, another whizz bang England innings, including Harry Brook nearing another ton and Joe Root deciding he can bat left handed, much of which I followed on BBC Live Text but it was superb to watch some of the match via on my laptop too. When Rizwan and Shakil were putting together a partnership on Day 5, it could have been Pakistan’s day, but England got the break through.

With one wicket needed in the last half hour of play, all men were round the bat. A nick went sailing through between Pope (who had previously just taken a beautiful catch down the leg) and Root. That would’ve sealed it, but Pakistan holed out until about the last ten minutes ~ before light would have surely meant stumps. Leach delivered. LBW.

After Jos Buttler and Alex Hales blasted England to a 10 wicket victory in the semis, it was set up for a Final against Pakistan in Melbourne. The weather forecast had threatened but at the end of the day, Rain did not stop play once. It was a tight match. Pakistan only managed to post 137 but then bowled beautifully. Naseem so very nearly found the edge of Stokes’ bat but just fell short. England did it with 6 balls to spare. Fantastic. A five wicket victory.

Ten years ago I was listening to the radio and I was sure I heard the lines, “Latchmere’s got a wave machine”. I wasn’t wrong. Recently I realised the band that sung it were none other than The Maccabees, their name derived from a pointed finger in The Good Book, all very Pink Floyd.

I came fairly late to ‘Tailenders’ but have been making up for lost time since and even made the Pilgrimage to Hammersmith around this time last year to see Isa bowl on stage etc. It was whilst in Warsaw that I first started listening to the Podcast. I just loved the little guitar “chirps” from the get-go.

From growing up in Wandsworth and going to school at Alleyns, there was a lot in this book that I could relate to. Even the University “experience” in Brighton with the recording studio I could well imagine. But head and shoulders above the rest, I empathised whole-heartedly with just being a Cricket Fan. It’s the place in the Heart. It is an unconditional love.

References to Elephant and Castle, Walworth Road, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Clash, Oasis. It’s all there. The devastating loss of his mother at the age of Seventeen; his Dad coming to see him ‘gig’ when he is backing Dylan in Spain; dating Florence from Florence and The Machine; all episodes told with flair.

There are several interviews related with his inimitable charming style, including : Athers ; Nass ; Adam Holliake ; Alec Stewart ; Ashley Giles ; Andy Flower ; Kumar Sangakkara ; Jos Buttler. Of course it culminates with the 2019 World Cup win, well you would wouldn’t you. It’s a beautifully written book. Paced to perfection. Encore!