Today it is mainly about the photos, but I make a mention (and link to) this year’s number one in the Classic FM hall of fame – Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man – a Mass for Peace” in the intro.
Today has been warm and sunny (to the the extent that for the first time in 2026 I have been out and about in short sleeves), and I have lots of photographs to share. Over the Easter weekend the Classic FM Hall of Fame countdown happened – the top 300 pieces of classical music as voted for by listeners. Though the county cricket had most of my attention I listened to the last stage of each day. I mention this because this year for the first time in the history of the countdown (now 31 years) the number one slot went to a living composer – Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man – a Mass for Peace” (click here for a recording) gaining the accolade.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Now for those photographs…
Today’s pictures start here.This Orange Tip gets the nod for feature image.
A look at day four in the county championship and a photo gallery.
Today was the fourth and final day of the first round of County Championship 2026 fixtures. This post looks at events in the match between Warwickshire and Surrey.
A GREAT PARTNERSHIP
Surrey resumed today on 169-3, still 47 runs short of avoiding an innings defeat. There were some close calls early in the day, but both Jamie Smith and Dan Lawrence batted very well, and by lunch, with the fourth wicket pair still in residence, the draw was already looking the likeliest outcome. The pair went on to break a record that had stood since 1906, for the biggest fourth wicket partnership for Surrey against Warwickshire. By the time Chris Woakes took a catch off Rob Yates to dismiss Smith for 132 the score had climbed to 366, and any result other than a draw looked very unlikely indeed. By the tea interval the score had risen to 390-4, and it was just a question of when hands would finally be shaken. In the event it took another hour and 57 more runs before the moment arrived. Dan Lawrence was undefeated on 161, and at the other end Ben Foakes who had saved Surrey from a disastrous start on day one was unbeaten on 36. Surrey had scored 288-1 on this final day. The pitch, lively on day one, seemed very flat indeed by the end of day four. Nevertheless both sides have reasons to be pleased. For Warwickshire there was Dan Mousley’s first championship hundred, especially significant in that while their bowling depth was obvious for all to see some had had questions about the batting, and 50+ scores from a number of their other players. For Surrey there were three individual tons (Foakes, Smith, Lawrence), a new career best score from Tom Lawes, and considerable resilience demonstrated on two occasions, first recovering from 65-6 to post 328 in the first innings, and then batting very well to secure the draw after what they themselves admitted had been a poor bowling display. I would expect both these sides to be near the top come the end of the season – both have considerable bowling resources, and as both showed in this match, they can bat more than adequately. |Essex and Sussex have each recorded victories in their opening games, Somerset and Nottinghamshire drew their match, and rounding out division one Yorkshire and Glamorgan are still playing, though a draw looks likely there.
PHOTOGRAPHY
My usual sign off…
A green shieldbug on a green leaf……and close upA small blue butterfly on a buddleia leaf near the Eastgate Bridge over the Gaywood River, King’s Lynn (two pics).
A look at the latest developments in Warwickshire v Surrey and a photo gallery.
Today is day three of the opening round of county championship fixtures for the 2026 season. This post looks at what has been happening between Warwickshire and Surrey.
THE DAYS EVENTS
Sam Hain was the first to fall on day three, trapped LBW by Matt Fisher for 94. Mousley continued his impressive play of the previous day until he fell for 144, caught by Rory Burns off James Taylor. That was 394-4. Warwickshire skipper Ed Barnard looked in magnificent form until Burns caught him off Fisher for 25. Aussie Beau Webster became the fifth Warwickshire player to top 50 in the innings before being pinned LBW by Tom Lawes. Numbers 7,8 and 9 in the Warwickshire order, Kai Smith, Chris Woakes and Jordan Thompson, all fell to 18 year old left arm spin bowling all rounder Ralphie Albert, Smith to a catch by Foakes, Woakes clean bowled and Thompson caught by Fisher. Thompson’s dismissal ended the innings, with Ethan Bamber having been LBW to Taylor for 11. Warwickshire thus ended on 544, a first innings advantage of 216. Albert’s figures were 20.3-1-80-3, splendid in such a huge total. The only Surrey bowler to be more economical than Albert was Australian veteran Sean Abbott, whose right arm seam yielded 25-4-74-1.
A look at goings on on day two of Warwickshire v Surrey and a photo gallery.
Today is the second day of the county championship season. This post looks at events at Edgbaston where Warwickshire and Surrey are playing.
YESTERDAY EVENING
Surrey continued the fightback I reported on yesterday, eventually reaching 328, of which 128 came from the bat of Ben Foakes. The last wicket fell right on the stroke of time, meaning that Warwickshire did not have to bat in the evening session. They would have been disappointed to let Surrey off the hook from 65-6, but would also have noted that the pitch was definitely easier to bat on than it had been at the start.
TODAY
Today has belonged to Warwickshire. They have moved into a first innings lead for the loss of a mere two wickets. All four batters to have gone to the crease for them so far (Alex Davies, Rob Yates, Dan Mousley and Sam Hain) have topped 50. Mousley reached his first ever county century (he has scored an FC hundred for The Lions, England’s ‘understudy’ squad) just before the light got bad enough for the umpires to take the players off. With Sam Hain unbeaten on 80 at the other end Warwickshire were 330-2, two runs ahead of Surrey’s 328. With the pitch now playing very easily Warwickshire can and should leave Surrey with only a draw to play for – it would be advisable for Warwickshire to give themselves a bowl at Surrey tomorrow evening if they are not already all out by then, but they can certainly afford to bat for two whole sessions tomorrow, and possibly for another hour after tea just to render their lead insuperable.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
The WNAG 4th birthday cake.Pictures of my new trophy and medal (six in total).Today’s pictures start here.
A look at events in Warwickshire v Surrey on the opening day of a new cricket season and a photo gallery from work.
The 2026 first class cricket season got underway at 11am UK time this morning, making use of the fact that today and Monday are both bank holidays to play a round of four-day fixtures on which no day will be a regular working day. This post looks at goings on at Edgbaston where Warwickshire are facing Surrey. One piece of big general championship news is that the powers that be have seen sense and abandoned the experiment of using the Kookaburra ball in English matches as the failure it was.
EARLY STRUGGLES
Warwickshire won the toss and put Surrey in to bat. Surrey survived a tough morning largely through Dominic Sibley who batted through at one end. They should have made it through the session for the loss of three wickets, but a loose shot from Dan Lawrence right on the stroke of the interval handed Ethan Bamber his third scalp of the morning and sent Surrey in for lunch at 61-4. Almost as soon as the afternoon session started there was more trouble for Surrey, as Sibley was caught by Rob Yates off Chris Woakes and then Woakes clean bowled teenager Ralphie Albert to make it 65-6…
THE REVIVAL
At that point Ben Foakes, a world class wicket keeping all rounder who should be a regular in the England test side, was joined by Tom Lawes, a talented young seam bowler who can bat. This pair batted through the afternoon session, Lawes reaching a new career best 78 not out by the interval, while Foakes was on 55 not out, and the score had risen to 198-6. Foakes is a very experienced campaigner, and is likely to pass the career landmark of 10,000 first class runs before the end of the season. Play is just resuming for the evening as I type this.
PHOTOGRAPHS
First, a standalone from last night, the fourth birthday of the West Norfolk Autism Group (WNAG):
Me at the fourth birthday celebrations of WNAG, which took place at Strikes in Gaywood yesterday evening. The trophy I am holding aloft is for a win at ten pin bowling, while the gold medal around my neck is for a triumph at scrabble. The WNAG T shirt is on over my jumper because it was not warm enough to be in just a T shirt and I felt that on this occasion that T shirt had to be on display.
My remaining pictures come from work…
We start with some items of militaria which will be going under the hammer at the end of April.This lot made almost double the high estimate in our March auction……partly because of this image of the reverse and the accompanying confirmation that I was able to offer that the blob of gum is original.This is one of 70 postcard lots in the April sale – I have not images the others yet.
An account of a long day yesterday, with a cousin’s wedding at its heart.
Yesterday a cousin of mine got married in Southend (where the couple live). Given the amount of travel involved in attending the wedding, my parents and I also decided to visit Wallasea Island, a wetland area/ bird reserve that has been created using spoil from the Elizabeth line, and which is more or less on the way.
OUTWARD BOUND
My father arrived to pick me up just before 9AM, and we then went into the centre of town to pick up my mother who had opted not to walk from their accommodation to my place, where the car was parked. Then we headed by various roads towards Wallasea Island. My parents car is not well suited to photography, but I managed to capture a few views of Ely Cathedral…
WALLASEA ISLAND
We saw hardly any of Wallasea Island in the end, and saw no exotic species during our time there, but I saw enough to be impressed.
ROCHFORD
We made a stop for refreshments at Rochford, just on the outskirts of Southend. The cafe we visited was excellent, and Rochford has a couple of interesting features.
The Rochford town map.
THE MAIN EVENT
There was one final problem before the main event. My sister and my nephew both also needed lifts from the centre of Southend to the actual venue, The Red Brick Barn, Sutton Hall, Rochford, and my parents car seats only four. In the end my sister and I were dropped at the venue first and then my parents went on to meet my nephew and bring him to the venue. The ceremony was followed by official photographs and then a meal. We left not long after six, with my parents having an early start the next day, and me not being a huge fan of big social occasions (it was still 9:30PM by the time we got to my place!).
These last pictures were taken during the official photograph session.Amand and Ed, the happy couple.
A MINIATURE RAILWAY
My sister reported seeing a railway carriage in the grounds, so I went to investigate, and while there was no actual rolling stock there was a station on a miniature railway.
The weather has been fine in my part of the world of late, apart from Friday which was dull and grey. I thus have lots of pictures to share, and not being inspired to think of things to write about I offer up this gallery:
One of the villains of the natural world – an ichneumon wasp (this variety lays its eggs in a caterpillar, which then gets eaten from the inside by the larvae).
A look at the state of the Six Nations as the tournament nears its end.
The 2026 Six Nations rugby tournament is approaching its conclusion. This post looks at the remaining possibilities.
IRELAND v SCOTLAND
Three teams came into today with a chance of winning the trophy – Scotland, Ireland and France. Scotland needed to beat Ireland and hope for a favour from England, who face France in the last match of the tournament tonight. In the event Ireland were in control virtually the whole way through the match, although Scotland reduced the deficit to five points midway through the second half. Ireland finished strongly, and the final score was Ireland 43 Scotland 21. Ireland sit top of the table at present.
WALES v ITALY
Wales are guaranteed the wooden spoon having lost all four of their matches so far and managed only one bonus point. Even if they win they will be behind current second last place side England. A win for Italy on the other hand would ensure them fourth spot ahead of England (they cannot catch Scotland, now in third place, whatever happens.
FRANCE v ENGLAND
Any win will be enough for France to lift the trophy since they have a much better ‘points difference’ than Ireland, and this is used as the tie-splitter. A bonus point win (scoring four tries or more) would avoid the need for tie-splitting. They are level on points with Scotland as things stand, so only the vanishingly (almost worthy of using Dan Dennett’s “Vanishingly” with the V capitalized, from “Darwin’s Dangerous Idea”!) small chance of England winning by 80 points or more, which would put Scotland ahead of France on ‘points difference’ could see them below Scotland. England have had an awful tournament by their standards, losing to Scotland, Ireland and Italy and beating Wales, but if Italy lose against Wales and they record a bonus point win over France they will slide into fourth out of six. It has been a splendid Six Nations overall, and either France or Ireland would be worthy winners.
A look back at today’s World T20 Final between India and New Zealand and a photo gallery.
The final of the 2026 World T20 Cup took place in Ahmedabad this afternoon UK time. The contending sides were the home side India, who had beaten England by seven runs in a semi-final that yielded almost 500 in 40 overs, and New Zealand who had spectacularly downed South Africa in the other semi-final. This post looks back at today’s match.
THE INDIAN INNINGS
New Zealand had won the toss and opted to bowl, hoping to do what they had in the semi-final. That was soon looking very unlikely, as Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson tucked into a Kiwi bowling attack never looked remotely threatening. Sharma, who had had a miserable tournament prior to today, made spectacular amends by hitting 52 off 21 balls, while Samson scored 89 off 46 balls, and Ishan Kishan weighed in with 54 off 25 balls. A final blitz of 26* (8) from Shivam Dube took India north of 250 – 255-5 from 20 overs. Mitchell Santner had figures of 4-0-33-0, and Glenn Phillips bowled one over for five runs, and seems bizarre given what happened to his colleagues that he was not called on again – outwith the two bowlers I have just mentioned New Zealand leaked 217 runs from 15 overs, an ER of 14.47 per over. James Neesham managed 3-46 from his full four overs. At the other end of the scale fast bowler Lockie Ferguson was left nursing figures of 2-0-48-0.
THE NEW ZEALAND CHASE
There proved to be one bowler who was not emasculated by the pitch. Jasprit Bumrah, who calls Ahmedabad home, produced an incredible display. He finished with 4-0-15-4, which would have been outstanding figures in any situation, but in a major final on a pitch that gave every indication of being a batters paradise it strained credulity that anyone should achieve such figures. Wickets 2,3 and 4 were all clean bowled, all with deliveries that were in effect quick off breaks. The fourth victim, New Zealand skipper Santner who had made 43, knew exactly what was coming but was unable to prevent the delivery from doing its work anyway. India won by 96 runs to retain the world cup, and Bumrah quite correctly was named Player of the Match (on this surface his bowling far outweighed any batting performance), while Sanju Samson was named Player of the Series, having contributed 321 runs across the tournament, while also keeping wicket.
PHOTOGRAPHS
This gallery comes from Friday, when I travelled to Norwich to make use of the big library there, since King’s Lynn library is closed at present…
A look at happenings in the test match between Australia Women and India Women at the WACA that concluded earlier today, focussing on a reminder of past glories from Ellyse Perry, a command performance from star of the moment Annabel Sutherland and a hint of future greatness from teenager Lucy Hamilton. Also a photo gallery.
Early this morning UK time Australia Women completed an emphatic ten wicket win in their test match against India Women at the WACA in Perth. This post looks at the three principal contributors to that result (with apologies to 35 year old Ellyse Perry, who I hope has a few more years left in her, for classing her for the purposes of this post as ‘past’).
ELLYSE PERRY
The veteran (who started as a bowler batting at number eight) was not called upon with the ball in this match, but she contributed a splendid 76 with the bat, an innings that saw her move to the top of the Australian Women’s all time test career run scoring list with 1,006 runs in the format.
ANNABEL SUTHERLAND
At the age of 24 Annabel Sutherland is well established as one of the game’s great all rounders. Even by her standards her performance in this match was incredible. In the first Indian innings she took 4-46, a test career best with the ball. Then she dominated the Australian reply, scoring 129, her fourth test century (a new Australian record, putting her behind only Jan Brittin of England who amassed five such scores in a career spanning almost two decades), which ensured that Australia had a big first innings lead. Remarkably she has now converted four 50+ scores in test cricket out of four into centuries. Three of those centuries have come in Perth. She added a further 2-15 in the Indian second innings to her earlier contributions, and was not required to bat in the second Australian innings.
LUCY HAMILTON
19 year old Lucy Hamilton was on debut, having shown herself to be a fine left arm pace bowler who can bat. She bowled superbly, taking 3-31 in the first Indian innings and 3-32 in the second, and in between times played a very useful little innings of 23, which helped move Australia from 79 ahead at the fall of the eighth wicket to their final advantage of 125. Her emergence onto the international scene has confirmed that Australia have unearthed yet another star. Hamilton hails from Bundaberg, a small sugar growing, rum making town which long ago produced Don Tallon, named by Don Bradman as the best keeper he ever saw in action. Full scorecard here.
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