Adding Zest

I continue to be well looked after here on what has been another very lazy day. My body is really giving me no other choice but to rest. Looking to the positives, it has meant being able to indulge myself in watching the World T20 from India. Despite being a great traditionalist when it comes to cricket, I'm a great fan of the 20 over format, at the highest level at least. Class always rises to the top, and there has been some real class on show here. 

The games I've watched over the last few days must rank amongst most entertaining cricket I've ever seen. Quite a few of the matches have had a lot riding on them and the pressure cooker has brought out both the worst and the best from players. Sport at the top level has always been about who is able to best handle the pressure. It was great to see England do that rather well for a change. I've not been as nervous in a long while as I was during our final game against Sri Lanka. It shows how much I cared that we progress. 

I think part of the reason for that is simply wanting to watch Joe Root perform on the very biggest stage. It's a privilege to be watching the game of cricket at the moment. In Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, Kane Williamson  and AB de Villiers, we watch five outstanding batsmen all vying to be the best in the world, with not a thin edge between them. It's great that one of them is a Yorkshire lad, and a lovely fellow with it. He had my vote before today's India v Australia match, but that innings of Kohli was simply a work of unparalleled genius - especially when you consider the hundreds of millions people he was carrying on his shoulders at the time. Now that is pressure!

Shenny has taken over my kitchen, making a wonderful breakfast (avocado and mushroom cheese toasties) seen in preparation here, and then a sensational Easter dinner. It's our last few hours before they head back to London first thing tomorrow morning. I'm going to miss them. It's been a lovely visit. They truly have had added zest to the Easter weekend!