My cricketing career before this week consisted of a handful of Sunday friendlies for my local club and a couple of trial matches for MCC 20 years ago. These days, you are far more likely to find me on the boundary with a scorebook and a pencil case than in the middle.
So, it was with a great deal of trepidation I agreed to have a bowl on the Nursery Ground at Lord’s in front of a handful of media colleagues, the Sky Sports cameras, a professional umpire and — most intimidatingly of all — the ECB’s data and insights team.
It was alarming to think of them watching my “medium” pace — known in the game as “right-arm filth” — but, far worse, would
