Beefy's day, Imran's day, New Day
Nostalgia is par for the course when you're a cricket writer covering the World Cup in England
Talk in Taunton pubs is still of when Beefy, Viv and Big Bird played for Somerset • Getty Images
"A large town in Somerset," Wikipedia says of Taunton. Can do whole place in one 5k run. Quiet, old, positively small town. Welcome brief change after London's hubbub. Takes two quid off each pint. Everybody knows everybody in the local pubs. Startle patrons in one by furiously typing out an interview transcript. Stop typing to join conversation. Memories of Somerset team of the 1980s - Ian Botham, Viv Richards and Joel Garner - still alive in the pubs of Taunton. Patrons here have seen them play, party, get up to mischief. Too small a town for the trio. One man says he was offered thousands of pounds by a London tabloid to speak things about Botham that are still unpublishable. Also tells of local photographer Alain Lockyer, whom the three invited to the dressing room for a photo before their last game at the club. He could have lived off royalties from that famous picture alone.
County Ground in Taunton. Somerset cricket museum shut. Not-for-profit museum; relies on volunteers to operate, and they are busy with preparations for the World Cup match between Australia and Pakistan. At least the Somerset merchandise shop is open. Lovely stuff, including maroon Somerset hats and cable-knit sweaters. Shame they won't be able to offer these products on match days because the ICC won't let them.
Back at local pub. Hottest topic right now is BBC withdrawing free license to people over 75 other than those on the poorest pensions. Vocal protest from son of second World War veteran. Others generally unhappy with London. Capital allegedly out of touch with smaller towns where average age is high and TV often only form of entertainment for the aged, who are not that mobile. Stark difference between demographics of London and Taunton. London young and bustling - many flats without lifts, not suitable for aged people. Taunton slower; bigger houses - better for the old, but fear they might be left alone here.
David Warner scores his first century back from the ball-tampering ban to help Australia beat Pakistan.
Walk around The Oval in London to try to find out what happens in the iconic gasholder structure now. End up finding out a bit of music history. Now closed pub The Cricketers Pub & Venue, sandwiched between The Oval and the gasholder. One of many small music venues in the 1970s and 1980s. Capacity 200. Some folk musicians even lived there for stretches. Roy Harper and Ralph McTell were among the big names who played regularly. Happy Mondays' first London gig was here.
Walk into The Oval and find iconic photos of streets visited yesterday. Milkman standing on top of his cart to watch cricket over a short boundary wall in 1933. Schoolboy atop a streetlight relaying score to about ten of his friends below back in 1938. Children in proper shirts and pants playing cricket beneath gasholder in 1953.
Needing to win to keep their campaign alive, South Africa melt down against New Zealand, dropping catches, missing a run-out, failing to review a wrong decision. This is Edgbaston, where 20 years and one day ago Lance Klusener and Allan Donald were involved in that run-out. Faf du Plessis heartbroken. TV in press conference room plays clip of Herschelle Gibbs dropping Steve Waugh. Du Plessis doesn't notice. Just as well. Has enough ghosts from this campaign to deal with.
Is there a better approach to a cricket ground than the one to Old Trafford? Lazy ten-minute tram ride on first really sunny day of World Cup. Off the tram and into the ground. Have seen on previous trip Lancastrian Michael Atherton take the same route. Just behind Joel Garner this time as he has his accreditation scanned. Curtly Ambrose in press box. Overhear him tell somebody, "You do that Twitter-thing…"
Edgbaston. Spot pair of excited eyes looking at me. One of the schoolkids with whom New Zealand will play cricket shortly as part of a charity initiative. "Booty Os," kid shouts. It's the New Day t-shirt I have on.
Things have begin to fall in place for Pakistan miraculously. Not just when they are playing, but when others are too. On the field they get the better of New Zealand. The similarities with banwey (Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi for "92") are getting more uncanny with each passing day. Bazid Khan, former Test cricketer, son of Majid, now a commentator, remembers what it was like in banwey. Pakistan were down in the dumps back then but the players couldn't believe how Imran Khan never accepted results. Before team meetings he would still talk like he was certain of winning the World Cup. "Baba pagal ho gaya hai," they would say. "This old man has gone mad."
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo