I came down to Euston on the rattler on Wednesday — the 3.11 from Manchester. I was in the quiet zone when the phone of the lady opposite rings (loudly). So she chats away. ‘I’m not supposed to talk,’ she tells the person at the other end of the line. ‘I’m in the quiet zone!’ I’m nodding in agreement. And it happens three more times! The question is: should I have said something? Tricky...
Our New Zealand colleague, the ample Ian Smith (right), was excited to have been on the same flight as two members of pop group Girls Aloud on his trip to London from LA (that’s Lower Accrington, obviously). Trouble is, he wasn’t sure which two he encountered, and no amount of probing can uncover the truth! If it was you, would you mind dropping me a tweet or sending a text?
COMPTON CAUGHT LOSING FOCUSThe mind can play tricks. Take Nick Compton. He’s as thorough a top-order batsman as they come, with plenty of experience in the county game. But after he and Alastair Cook had played out four maidens, he suddenly had a wild yahoo at Bruce Martin and was caught. He’ll have walked off stunned, and sat with his head in his hands. Don’t despair, Nick. As George Burns said when asked about dying: it’s been done before.
JOE'S THE LATEST LORD ROOTJoe Root has had a terrific start to the season, with three scores of more than 175 in first-class cricket. But before this game he’d never played at Lord’s. The strange thing is, both his brother and his dad have. And they did in the same game the other day, when dad Matt lined up for MCC against brother Billy, playing for MCC Young Cricketers. Dad was out for three.
First appearance: Joe Root in action on the opening day of the Lord's Test addCustomPlayer('sd2if9dge3q31mizuyl6230gk', '', '', 640, 580, 'perfsd2if9dge3q31mizuyl6230gk', 'eplayer16');More... Cautious England will need to press on as New Zealand claim slight advantage on opening day of international summer VIDEO: Watch highlights of the England v New Zealand Test matches
