Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, the 8th Earl of Darnley.

This is a question I've been fielding for the past month and a half. I've had plenty of practice fielding this type of question from a very early age. My father and step mum (both luddites when it came to the fine game of cricket) would regularly ask, "Who's winning?" while I was listening to the radio or watching Ritchie B on Channel 9. One can't blame my eldest. Baseball is his game and the game of cricket is as far removed from him as the current West Indian team to the ones that dominated the sport in the 1970's and 80's.  After losing the second half of Day 4 due to inclement London weather, play resumed slightly late due to more sky beers falling on the playing arena. Two overs from the end of yesterday's play, The Blue Caps successfully petitioned to have the ball changed, under rule 72.3.7 if the current ball has no life, a new one may be taken to cause Australia strife - Shakespeare was a sitting member of the MCC when the original rules ...

There are many reasons why a man gets married. Lifelong partner, a mother for his children, someone to remind you that you're a knob sometimes. The latter is how I felt watch Stuart Broad's announcement of retirement on the edge of The Oval playing arena with the Sky Sport commentators. I was reminded by the 51% shareholder of our household that sometimes I continue to judge someone long after an unsavoury act - especially as that said person may have grown or matured. As our family watched his magnanimous words and respect for the game, the name Draco seemed to slip into the past, and Broad re-entered the conversation. My justification of derision towards his antics and behaviours became as childish as a maid of honour having a tantrum at her sister's wedding as the happy couple perform their wedding dance to the same song she did two years prior. I mean "Bed of Roses" by Jon Bon Jovi is a good song, but did either couple really listen to the lyrics - "Tonig...

As we sat down after dinner, child in the shower, me a bit dazed from having one ginger beer with the mandatory Voltaren after a game of baseball (that's the American version of Bazball), this question came to me from the other side of the couch. On offer, just after the Giants had upset the Dogs in the AFL, was the Swans vs Bombers; the heavyweights of France vs Brazil in the Women's World Cup; the guaranteed one-sided affair of the Bledisloe Cup from Melbourne (seriously, how does one side win a two horse competition 22 years in a row - it baffles me! And they wonder why Rugby is the fourth football code in this country); and of course the Ashes. My reply was "You can pick whatever you want to watch", knowing that the red wine and turkey I slipped into dinner would cause a premature bedtime, and allow me to watch the cricket earlier. The first part of the England innings was viewed via the written commentary option on the Cricket Australia app. It was quite disconce...