Down at Third Man

A number of critically important deadlines are looming at work so I'm having to keep chipping away at things over the weekend. The incentive is that the Bank Holiday on Monday is set to be warm and sunny. If I make sufficient progress I will claim a day off and get out for a long bike ride. It's not often such holidays coincide with good weather.

I did take some time out this afternoon, though, to watch the boys' cricket games. I left at 3pm to see the end of the first team's innings and watch Forrest get a few quick and very useful runs at the end (which eventually ensured a victory). He looked in good nick off the back of his heavily hungover century last week. I then headed the 15 miles into Leeds to watch the second team playing at Kirkstall, although getting distracted with a couple of photo stops along the way and then cycling straight past the ground (they are so often tucked away up little alleys and hidden from view), I contrived to miss Roam's opening spell.

On a very good wicket it was always going to be difficult to defend a score of 235 but we came very close. Just as the game was going away from us, youngest son got their leading batsmen out clean bowled, and then demolished the stumps of another, but it wasn't quite enough. Kirkstall edged the winning runs in the penultimate over for a two wicket win. It was competitive to the end and great to watch.

The ground was also a picture in the sharp evening sunshine. This is a shot of Roam at third man, a traditional spot for the opening fast bowler, put out to graze on the boundary before being called upon by the captain to bowl again. With the grass so verdant and the soil so dry it was hard to credit that snow was lying on the ground just one month ago! That said, it was a lot colder than it looks here with a chilly wind blowing across the ground.

Thanks for the feedback on yesterday's blip. I was absolutely wasted after work last night. It had been a very hard week. I really had no desire to describe my tedious day, but then some words came into my head around the image. I only seem able to write poetry when I'm too tired to think!