Nervous day at Lords

To summarise today, Henry had a sudden serious operation on a perforated appendix while Elizabeth, Hugh, and I, had a wonderful (and in the end very nervous) time at day 4 of the Lords test. Bec had taken Henry to hospital in the middle of the night on Julia's advice, but we had no reason to particularly worry. At about lunch time it started to sound serious, and we ultimately had a very nervous afternoon with no news of how the surgery was going. It was a great relief to be told that it had seemed to go well. He's recovering now, but may be in hospital for some time. Meanwhile, we had a great day. Much like Ascot, the members area at Lords is in a different class from anything I've seen in Australia. Cameras and phones are not permitted in the long room, but it's a very special, and I'd even say tranquil, place to watch cricket and see the players at close proximity. One highlight was definitely meeting Roy Shackley, who's also in London right now. The man was sitting with me, David, is a very nice MCC member who I once met in Sydney and stayed in touch with via email. He kindly showed me around the members pavilion and even secured me a seat out the front in a great location. I hope to make an appearance out there again tomorrow, but nothing is certain right now.