The other morning I was on “bubble” duty to pop round to the local news agent and grab a paper before I went to work. Usually it’s a five minute job, not any more. With many people having more time on their hands and unfortunately few pressing engagements with tens of thousands sadly still on furlough, chatting has become part of the new norm. So, my quick news agent mission now takes more than twice as long to complete.
I am now confronted with not only a queue but forced to listen to some complete drivel the lead client is determined to share with the kind lady at the till. And, as I stood there I suddenly thought this is not the time to be lingering in shops or other public places for no reason whatsoever. It’s an in and out job as far as I am concerned. It’s not like cricket! I remember the days of playing cricket down in Magalluf with the likes of the ever athletic Frank Leavers.
The batsman would perhaps go for one, or a block and then the faffing about would begin. Wicket keeper, often me, would throw the ball out to Frank at mid off, or wherever he was fielding on the day, he would then give the ball a once over and a shine then lob it over to his nearest teammate who would do exactly the same before it eventually got back to the bowler who would then give the red ball a shine, a scratch and eventually steam in from the boundary only for the batsman to decide not to play the ball at all. Faffing - but there’s no time for it now.