From balls to, well, more balls

Now 110-8 with 50 runs required from the last 9 balls.

Ho hum. Time to follow the House of Commons Speakers' Hustings live blog. Wonder if they have to do a comic turn as I did when standing for election at my old students' union?

Googly to silly mid on

Ireland look like they won't quite make it against Pakistan - required run rate of 17.something. Oh well - we mixed it with the big boys quite convincingly.

Au revoir

That's it for today - I'm enjoying England's abject collapse against South Africa, but I'm hungry and there's ironing to do. See you all tomorrow.

Irish eyes aren't smiling

So Ireland go out to New Zealand, comprehensively beaten - but then very few of Ireland's team are professional cricketers (or Irish, come to think of it). It was fun mixing it with the big boys though, and getting further than Australia in a sport a long way down the national pecking order (football, hurling, rugby, soccer, horse-racing, golf - yuck) is very funny.

I'm still not convinced by Twenty20 - it's the equivalent of table football. Give me the slow, thoughtful strategy of a Test match, occasionally enlivened by a wicked spell of fast bowling or the deviousness of a good spinner.

Kiwi jam

The New Zealanders are giving Ireland a pasting - 38/0 from only 3.1 overs. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Yet more booky-wooks

Hurrah! I'm dropping with exhaustion, but my spirits are revived by the arrival of five books today: Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger, China Miéville's The City and the City, and all three of Marilynne Robinson's novels: Gilead, Home and Housekeeping. One of them's coming to this meeting.

Bangladesh 137/8 (20/20 ov)

Ireland 58/1 (8.6/20 ov)

Howzat!

Emma reminds me that the titans of Ireland take on the Bangladesh minnows in the Twenty20 tournament today. Easy… I hope it's not all over by the time my next meeting ends around 4.30.

Bangladesh are in first - 27 for 1 from 3 overs, so they're scoring well.