Middlesex v Gloucestershire County Championship match report

Quick recap of our submission guidelines for match reports:

(1) Don’t mention the cricket.

Ged Ladd writes:

The weather forecast for day three had looked far from promising all week and so waking up to rain and a dismal forecast came as a disappointment but no surprise.

My guest, Charley “The Gent” Malloy and I had a contingency plan. We’d go about our own business in the morning, then meet for a late dim sum lunch at The Royal China on Queensway, to be followed by a cursory weather inspection.

My morning passed swiftly, as did a very tasty dim sum lunch. A special duck cheung fun was probably my highlight, although I also particularly liked the prawn with coriander dumpling, the fried pork bun and the spicy chickens’ feet.

We emerged from Royal China to the very enticing sight of sunshine. “Is it possible?” we asked each other. How often do cricket nuts phone the ‘prospects of play’ line to find out what’s going on? We thought 15 minute intervals was suitably restrained.

At 4.05pm we learnt that the umpires had inspected and would inspect again at 4.30pm. The radar picture looked encouraging. We left.

Just one problem – Charley loves the pavilion but, expecting no play, had come out without a tie. Charley always admires my ties, which then turn out to be ones that my mum has given me. So it simply had to be one of mum’s choices.

Play was scheduled to start at 5pm, so we got ourselves some drinks in the upper terrace bar and took up prime seats under the south canopy of the sun deck.

A flurry of rain at 4.45pm and the hover cover returned. Then out came the roller as they started up the hover cover again to remove it.

I decided to count the crowd from where we were sitting. I ignored a few hospitality boxes. Upper Compo six, Mound three, Tavern six, Warner one. I couldn’t see the Allen Stand.

There were seven pigeons clustered about four pitches north of the Test strip. I realised, given my spectator count, that that was the largest spectator cluster other than members and hospitality boxes. The seven pigeons seemed to be walking in along with the fielders.

Soon the rain returned, but as far as we were concerned, 40 minutes of cricket had been better than none. So it was farewell to Charley “The Gent” Malloy, who wandered off into the distance before I realised that he was still wearing that tie my mum gave me.