ARISE... SIR BUMBLELOT OF TRENT BRIDGE
SOME bright spark at Sky thought it was a good idea for me to wander around as Sir Lancelot with my sword Excalibur. But I’m not sure our lad did his homework. It would have been better if I’d dressed as Robin Hood and gone off in search of Maid Marian rather than Guinevere. We’re not in Tintagel.
NOTTS CURRYING FAVOUR
IS Nottingham the curry capital of Great Britain? It certainly seems that way whenever we come here and there was not a spare table to be had down Maid Marian Way on Saturday night where they are awash with high-quality curry houses. Our choice was 4550 Miles From Delhi, a Nasser Hussain pick.
MIX-UP OVER A MADRAS
IT was in the curry house that this bloke came up to Nasser and told him he changed the face of cricket. Must be a case of mistaken identity. Talking of which, the owner of 4550 Miles From Delhi shook my hand and said he was there in 1981 when I won the Ashes. Not sure if he thought I was Bob Willis or Ian Botham.
AMLA WAS IN HIS ELEMENT
PERFECT scenario for Hashim Amla yesterday. The South Africa plan would have been to bat all day. That suited Amla, who looked in no trouble whatsoever, performing within himself and barely ever playing and missing until he was finally done on review by Liam Dawson. He was just like an old-fashioned, risk-free Test player.
WATCH LIKE A HAWK!
ENGLAND could have had Amla, mind, when he nicked one off Stuart Broad and nobody seemed to notice. There was a muted appeal from England but Hawk-Eye showed a definite spike. By contrast there was only a shimmer when Alastair Cook was given out on review in the first innings and I’m not sure the former England captain touched that one.
IN THE SWING OF THINGS
YOU know what you’re going to get at Trent Bridge — swing. Jimmy Anderson (left) did the business for England in the first innings but then they were sloppy with the bat. They seemed to forget that South Africa are without their main man in Kagiso Rabada. They just had to see off Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander and cash in against the rest. But they couldn’t.
RAIN HITS A RAUCOUS NIGHT
I MADE a late arrival at Nottingham because I was at the Twenty20 Roses match at Old Trafford on Friday and what an occasion it was! There were 20,000 in and raucous wasn’t the word — it was deafening. It was a shame it rained but the umpires did well in keeping them out there for as long as they did. A point each, which could be important.