I don’t like missing out on cricket at Lord’s so, with this year’s Clydesdale Bank final between Hampshire and Warwickshire taking place on 15th September, I decided to take my annual Swiss holiday a week later than normal and go the following day.

Wise decision too with an enthralling match for the decent crowd to enjoy. With my family coming from Bournemouth – then Hampshire now Dorset – I decided that I would support Hampshire. As the match evolved, it was impossible to tell which way it was flowing and, when it got tense once again, I let myself believe that it was only a a game... One ball to go, one run to win for Warwickshire and a dot ball to land the trophy for Hampshire on the strength of fewer wickets lost and I have to admit that one member of the Hampshire playing staff, Hamza Riazuddin, who was not playing was significantly calmer than me... I contented myself with a photo of the last nanoseconds of the game and, whilst it must have been

disappointing for Neil Carter in his last game for Warwickshire, it was a truly wonderful climax to the season.

I put up at the excellent Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow, declined a voluntary upgrade so that I might have a room with a bed which I could manoeuvre my 6’5” frame more easily into ie a double bed and was then promptly given a free upgrade anyway. It’s a lovely hotel, conveniently situated but I have to say that my departure at 3.50am for a 6am flight to Zurich didn’t see me at my freshest.