Sticky wicket

Before my golf fest started, SWMBO and I made our annual trip to Lords for the first test against New Zealand. It was a while since we had been there, and also a while since we stayed at the Lensbury Club.

First though the cricket. after a leisurely breakfast we set off for Lords. it does take a while from Teddington but we thought 11:30 was a reasonable time to arrive as we passed through the turnstiles. Imagine our shock then as we saw New Zealand were 12-3. Luckily more wickets followed as they were bowled out and England came out to bat.

We took a lunchtime stroll down St Johns Wood High Street,paying. particular attention to the charity shops, before rejoining the game.At this point we became aware of the large amount of alcohol the group in front were consuming and were just waiting for one of the girls in particular to stand up and promptly fall over!!

England only lost one wicket before tea and with Crawley in control we anticipated a final session devoid of drama, allowing us to depart early to our pre-booked dinner appointment. Joe Root came in and knocked a couple of 4's and with the score on 82-2 we made our excuses and left.

Our very pleasant evening at the Duke of Sussex in Waterloo was then shattered as I spotted a headline      ' England collapse again' and yes we missed a further 5 wickets at the end of the day.

So back to the Lensbury before home the next day for a 75th birthday party. The Lensbury is now a regular hotel which anybody can book into and like everywhere, they are suffering staff shortages. The clientele is different with the parents less likely to control their children than previously was the case. The hash browns at breakfast were pretty poor as well.

They seem to be fairing marginally better than the Anglers next door as we waited 35 minutes to be served there on the Wednesday night, and for a Fullers pub to not have any London Pride was just bang out of order.

Anyway, we are back on the horse so to speak and with a couple of rugby tickets for the New Zealand game in November, I can see if things have improved.