Thick Edg(baston)

Bye everybody. After a cricketless day in the office, I'm off to sit in the sunshine with a book and TMS (Test Match Special) chuntering on in the background. It's no OBO, but there's something blissful about the sounds of cricket interspersed with nice-but-dim commentators, especially when they enthuse over the cakes sent in by fans, if that hasn't been stopped by the fear of poisoning.

Ashes Fever

The first Ashes match has just started - follow it live here on the Guardian's wonderful 'over by over' coverage. If the play gets boring (unlikely), contributions from viewers are always fun. Also tomorrow, Ireland play Kenya in the first one-day international, which used to be the high-speed version until Twenty20 was invented.

(In case some of my readers are confused, I'm talking cricket. Googlies, Chinamen, silly mid-off and all that).