I made it to a couple of county matches in London last week. Surrey v Essex in SE11 and Middlesex v Sussex at NW8. There were some pretty big names knocking about the Oval : Amla (last time I saw him at the Oval he posted a handy triple century), Burns, Pope, even the currently hot ODI property Reece Topley was strolling about. Will Jacks (not to be confused with the clothing brand) went from 100* to 150* very quickly putting Surrey past Essex’s total. I hung around to watch the great Sir Alistair Cook. He stroked a handy 4 off his legs but was then caught behind. A great day with Harry.

The match North of the River was not as close, Sussex having posted 500+ in the first innings. Malan nicked one past the keeper to score a 50, and it was sweet to see Steve Finn bowling. I briefly sat up in one of the new stands.

I love going to the MCC library. There are some real nuggets there, and it is time to get reading some decent Cricket Literature again. This particular one has a great title.