Yes! The faulty blind is fixed! A long nights sleep was had thanks to my abilities as a 'handyman.'
On second thought, it could also be the fact that outside of my window the scene is grey, gloomy and dismal. Bugger. And double bugger as there is no left over pizza for my breakfast this morning either, settle for a solitary slice of toast, hoping that the cloud cover and drizzle will move on.
20 minutes later, no such good luck. My normal ten minute walk to the station was turned into a mad dash, within twenty seconds of leaving the flat, the heavens opened and I got soaked.
Lincoln didn't however let me down in terms of entertainment on the train, yesterday was the 'technophobe Grannies' today the Scottish Christian Street Preacher.
A jolly nice chap too, blessed me for handing him a couple of sheets of paper to scribble his notes on, similar to how I was scribbling stats on mine. His Scottish heritage certainly came out however, upon him dropping his wallet he was bending down and picking up his change before it had barely touched the coffee stained train carpet.
Once again the hour journey flew by like the field upon field of wet, unhappy looking animals you flash past going through the several village stops on the trip. Conversations of Cromwell, Students and University all helped pass the time before a shake of the hands as we departed seperate ways. With the rain still lashing down I opted for a taxi ride down to the ground.
£3.80 later, and I was finding it hard to believe the sight in front of me. Yesterday Trent Bridge was picture perfect. Today an damp squib with no sign of play whatsoever.
At 12pm sharp, umpires Richard Kettleborough and the aptly named George Sharp hurridly walked over to the square, took one look and called for an early lunch. What a splendid idea indeed.
Another Pie was top of the menu today, this time it was Steak and it went down a treat. Whilst eating lunch we watched the groundstaff go about removing the covers as a short break in the rain brought hope to us all.
Not for long, the covers were back on again quicker than you could say 'Spotted Dick and Custard' (incidently the pudding choice) and it was back to the laptops to try and find a latest forecast.
Finally, after being at the ground for four and a half hours without a ball being bowled we had the chance of play at 3pm. The clouds had lifted, the rain departed, unfortunately so had my fellow RNIB commentators. Still, I battled on, on my own for a little over ninety minutes either side of tea before hands were shook, stumps removed and a draw called with Lancashire on 97-3.
In the small dose of cricket available to us on the final day, the action was as sparse as the Trent Bridge crowd.
Two wickets for the Notts' bowlers, one for Ryan Sidebottom and one, a peach from Darren Pattinson removed Karl Brown and Kyle Hogg respectively.
Performance of the day has to go to the groundstaff who tried everything they could, but the only winner today was the weather. Our friend from yesterday, VVS Laxman saw a little more action than his fielding in the slips, however the warm up game of tag rugby seemed to pass him by, perhaps its fair to say Rugby isn't followed in India.
As I drifted away from the ground my thoughts drifted to my next date with the microphone, a top of the table clash with Durham and the prospect of more good cricket, good weather and bizzare train characters. Brilliant.
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