Rain, rain, go away

Today I’m going to Lords for the start of the Ashes Test. It’s highly likely I will not see a ball bowled.

If it ends as a draw England will have to win two and draw one of the remaining three to recover the Ashes. Unlikely. More likely more rain and they cannot get Steve Smith out. Steve Smith is the heir to Don Bradman who was once asked how he coped with a loss of form. He replied “I would not know.”

At the risk of being a bore (surely not, Ed) I have written before how the cricket authorities fail to take the unreliability of summer weather into account. Four games were lost to this in the ICC World Cup.

One of the reasons I predict the Hundred won’t work is there is no contingency plan for bad weather.

Lords will refund the ticket if there is no play but not the hospitality.

So a group of us trenchermen will convene over a wet square for a lengthy lunch. This does not bother all as eating and above all drinking is their driver for the day.

I was looking forward to see Jofra Archer on his debut, to see if Jos Buttler and David Barstow can recover form, how Joe Denly will cope with the problematic number 3 position, whether Sam Curran will play, the wily spin bowling of Nathan Lyon and the raw Aussie pace attack and how England plan to dismiss Steve Smith.

There is something very special too about the first day at the Home of Cricket. Fortunately better weather is promised tomorrow.

Thursday is dedicated to the Ruth Strauss Foundation and spectators are asked to wear red. The only red attire I have is a polo shirt and I can’t workout if that contravenes the dress code.