One last grand day out

If the buzz phrase ‘match day experience’ was to be applied to any venue in the world it would Lord’s. The famous Lord's hum, a hum of anticipation, a hum of the occasion and sometimes a post-lunch hum of satisfaction.

That buzz or hum is there even at half seven in the morning of the Royal London One-Day Cup Final. The last at this esteemed old ground before it up sticks to Trent Bridge next season. The rights or wrongs of the restructuring of the county season is for a different place though.

When you walk through the North Gate having gone through the security frisk there is activity everywhere. The stewards and St John's Ambulance are getting their briefings. The food kiosks are preparing for a day of non-stop sales.

In the place that it matters the hallowed turf the ground staff are busily preparing an assortment of lawn mowers mover across the blades of grass giving it a carpet-like texture while a roller prepares for a future battle. No notice is taken to the pitch that today's action will take place on. You can’t help but notice a green tinge but a dry looking surface underneath.

The stewards in the stands start to check every seat, turning them down before they spring back up. It will be the only Mexican wave that won’t be frowned upon all day.

The paying punter is still an hour away from surging into the ground, the chat the laughter mixing with the sounds of London mixing into the hubbub of it all.

Lord’s has a weird juxtaposition of the traditional and the modern, the famous pavilion, the bastion of the MCC and the old school tie at one end of the ground and the JP Morgan Media Centre at the other which is regularly compared with a spaceship (it landed 20 years ago.)

Adjustable floodlights stand on watch over the famous stands as the flashing advertising boards snake the edge of the outfield reminding the yet to arrive visitor of potential future visits to see the NatWest T20 Blast before it is shoved down the order of importance.

It is overcast but with little chance of rain although the main cover sits over the sponsor's logo on the outfield ready to pounce into action at the merest drop precipitation.

Things start to move up a notch, with the PA system tested and the food kiosks staffed and ready for business the MCC members are let through the gates. It’s not salmon swimming upstream as you are led to believe but a steady trickle. This doesn’t have the gravitas of a Lord’s test match after all.

A jazz band start to burst into life, and the day suddenly feels like it is starting to reveal its true purpose. The players have started to trundle over to the nursery ground where they start to go through their final preparations.

The Warner stand is starting to fill a shock of glass bursts through the top of a traditional looking stand overlooking the playing surface while at the back there is a mix of bright white painted steel and frosted glass.

The media centre starts to become busier, familiar faces and just as importantly voices start to appear. With England playing an ICC World Cup warm-up match at Southampton it would be easy for the media centre to be far from full.

With forty minutes until the toss, the players of both sides are on the outfield going through fielding drills or marking run-ups with long measuring tapes and buckets of paint.

The cloud that blanketed the skies earlier in the morning has burnt away as Isa Guha supervises the toss which Hampshire win. The stands are filling with fans of both sides.

The bell rings to signal the players are on their way. The Somerset fielders spread out and Hampshire’s batsman walk out with purpose. Craig Overton waits to run in and deliver the first ball of the day to Tom Alsop.

The ripples of applause punctuate the air in the early exchanges as both sides work each other out. That is until the third over when Aneurin Donald pieces a cover drive for the first four of the day. A big cheer marks it and we are into the game as Donald flicks the next off his legs to the boundary in the opposite side of the field.

The Somerset crowd roared back next over as Donald’s cameo of 11 from 11 balls when he drives a loose ball from Josh Davey straight at Roland van der Merwe.

Hampshire lost wickets at regular intervals. They needed Sam Northeast to bat all the way through. Northeast reached fifty before swiping across the line and was bowled by Somerset captain Tom Abell.

The biggest cheer from the Somerset fans came just three balls later. Chris Wood toe-ended a Jamie Overton Delivery to George Bartlett who grabbed his chance.

Hampshire's fans finally had something to cheer about when the ninth wicket partnership added 66 for the ninth wicket. Fuller reached his fifty with a second six from the final over of the inning. Mason Crane played a good supporting inning to ensure Hampshire used all their overs.

Hampshire finished on 244 for 8. It is by modern standards a modest total one that Somerset would have been happy with at the start of the day.

In the interval, the outfield near the Grandstand was replaced with youngsters in a range of colourful hats and even bright orange stumps. They got to play on the same stage as the heroes they were there to watch.

Tom Banton the Somerset opener looked at home at the home of cricket at set about tucking into the Hampshire opening bowlers who have international pedigree Fidel Edwards taking the brunt of the opening salvo by the young wicketkeeper. In the third over he smoked Edwards for four, six and four in successive balls.

The Somerset faithful were now in full voice. The boundaries were coming as thick and as fast as the consumption of cider. The usual hum was replaced by the noise of supporters enjoying the afternoon in song.

A chant of “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Banton” rang around Lord’s as the batsman reached his fifty in as many balls.

Edwards came back for his second spell and he soon saw off his early tormentor Banton for 69. Azhar Ali followed in Edwards next over. By that time the two openers had added 112 for the first wicket.

It was the Somerset stalwarts of Peter Trego and James Hildreth that made sure that Somerset didn’t get carried away and throw a great position away.

Hildreth batted for the rest of the innings for an unbeaten 69 from 68 balls. A player many feels was wrongly overlooked by England showed his true class and it was fitting that he hit the winning runs with 39 balls to spare.

There were 15746 in attendance to see the curtain fall on the domestic 50 over final at Lord’s. It was a shame really. Scheduled on the same day as England playing Australia and other scheduling matters meant the opportunity to go out with a full house was missed. This was a competition with the help of finals at Lord's help to create memories. Sat in the stands watching their heroes represent the county that means the most to them.

Goodbye old friend.

Somerset make Notts pay as Leach turns the game

There aren’t many days where spin bowlers take wickets at regular intervals as Jack Leach did here today. This was far from an unplayable turner that Taunton has been accused of producing of late.

Notts weren’t beaten by sharp turn but a bowler who knows what he is doing and some bizarre decisions by batsmen and depending on where your loyalties fall one umpiring call.

The first hour of play was fairly mundane. Ben Slater and Luke Fletcher the night-watchman went calmly about their business. A fifty partnership and Somerset turned to Leach. Instantly he made the breakthrough as Slater looking to dominate the spinner early on advanced down the track and changed his mind through the shot tried to block it and Steve Davies wasn’t going to miss the stumping.

After the fine game earlier in the week Joe Clarke’s fortunes could not have been more different this week. He was three short of a second innings hundred when Steve Mullaney declared on his against Yorkshire. In this game, Clarke only scored 4 runs. His two in the second innings saw him misjudge the line of Leach and his off-stump was flattened.

Fletcher had batted most of the morning and played well for 21 before he looked to clear cover off Leach only for it to fly in between extra cover and cover and two fielders converged. Craig Overton took the catch and Notts poor morning continued.

Notts were always behind the game after Tom Abell and George Bartlett added over 200 to the Somerset score of 408. They still had two of their most experienced batsman Mullaney and Samit Patel at the crease at lunch.

Leach continued his spell after the break, and he bowled tight lines that the Notts batsman could not disrupt.

Mullaney was the next to fall he prodded at a Leach delivery and while it looked like his feet had not moved Davies had whipped off the bails and the umpire agreed that Mullaney was stumped. The Notts captain took an age to leave his crease and was far from happy with the call.

Notts capitulated after that and with the tail offering little resistance. Any chance they had of making Somerset bat again went with Patel who was lbw to Leach for 24.

Leach finished with figures of 6 for 36 from a spell of 17 overs each side of lunch. All 10-second innings were taken by bowlers called Jack as Brooks mopped up the last two wickets with Stuart Broad the last man to go.

This result will start to make those down in Taunton and the surrounding area think that this could just be their year. There is, of course, a long way to go by things are looking rosy for Somerset.

Somerset build lead on the back of Abell and Bartlett

When play started at 11 this morning it was honours even, just about. Nottinghamshire knew that early wickets in the first session would put them in charge. Somerset knew if they could see out the first session, they would be firmly in the driving seat.

The assistance for the bowlers yesterday fell away completely as Tom Abell and George Bartlett went about accumulating a mammoth fourth wicket partnership. The started the day as watchful as they had the previous evening. The first hour passed without and any drama.

74 for 3 at the start of the day became 174 for 3 at Lunch. Abell and Bartlett continued past as Steve Mullaney rotated his bowlers.

The Notts captain was without Samit Patel for the first session as Patel was celebrating the birth of a baby daughter. It was the only good news for Notts in those first two sessions until Luke Wood finally made the breakthrough.

The partnership of 223 was the highest for Somerset against Nottinghamshire for the fourth wicket beating the previous of 206 by Graham Burgess and Ian Botham on this ground in 1976.

Abell snicked off to Luke Wood shortly after he had past his century. It ended an innings of 101 from 198 balls. Bartlett was joined by Steve Davies and normal service was resumed and the two took Somerset into tea on 309 for 4.

If the first two sessions had gone Somerset’s way, then the last session was to belong to Nottinghamshire as they fought back to take 6 wickets after tea.

Somerset were on the hunt for bonus points before the cut-off point and wickets were there for the taking as the batting side looked to accelerate.

Bartlett was out shortly after tea shouldering arms to Luke Fletcher. Having been a last-minute choice before the first game of the season Bartlett had certainly taken his chance to cement a place in the Somerset side and his 133 from 223 balls with 17 fours was scored with the confidence of a first-team regular.

Josh Davey with 25 from 28 balls and Lewis Gregory 50 from 50 balls ensured that Somerset got to 400 and the full set of bonus points but they both fell in consecutive balls to Broad. Stuart Broad finished with figures of 5 for 73.

Somerset were bowled out for 403 and a lead of 140. Their bowlers had 13 overs to make early inroads to the Notts top order. Ben Duckett was on a pair when he burst a potential catch through the hands of Bartlett.

The young fielder was upset with himself, but he needn’t have been as the other century-maker Abell made amends taking a low catch to dismiss Duckett for 4.

Brooks finally had some luck go his way. It continued when he then got the wicket of Notts highest scorer Chris Nash for a duck.

Nottinghamshire finished the day on 25 for 2 trailing by 115 runs as Somerset take a grip of the game with two days left to go.

Notts and Somerset battle out enjoyable days play

In a competition between in form batsman and an inform bowler, it was the latter that took the honours today at Trent Bridge.

Lewis Gregory who helped turn Somerset fortunes in the first round of the Specsavers County Championship was at it again returning figures of 6 for 68.

Somerset liked the look of a pitch with a healthy helping of green grass on the surface. It was more for decoration than anything that would cause batsmen any real trouble. Tom Abell the Somerset captain was happy enough to have a bowl first up and the was no toss.

Abell’s decision was looking a great one when Jack Brooks saw off Ben Duckett on of Notts inform batsman. Duckett was heavy footed to a ball that straightened and had nowhere to go but the pavilion.

It wasn’t a happy time after that for Brooks, his first spell would see his four overs dispatched for 29 runs as Chris Nash and Ben Slater tucked into the shorter of the two boundaries.

Notts were plundering on a pitch that offered assistance to the bowler who got it in the right areas but anything slightly offline was going to the fence.

The Notts second wicket partnership soon passed 50 from only 51 balls before Slater edged one behind off Josh Davey and Steve Davies taking a comfortable catch behind.

Joe Clarke who started the season with 112 and 97 not out against Yorkshire soon followed for 2.

Nash who has a very good record at Trent Bridge and that form looked set to continue. He has always been good on the drive and when Brooks fed him early on, he was intent on getting his teeth into the Somerset attack.

For the fourth wicket, Nash again shared a fifty partnership with Steve Mullaney. 52 were added before Mullaney was lbw to Gregory for 26.

The Notts middle order all made starts without going on Samit Patel was bowled for 33 again by Gregory who removed two of Patel’s stumps to opposite sides on the pitch.

Patel along with Tom Moores were looking comfortable in their 58-run partnership.

Once Patel was gone Moores started to play and miss and a number of deliveries before Craig Overton and Marcus Trescothick combined to send Moores back for 47.

Luck Wood who last week had been on loan at Northamptonshire and he ensured the lower order didn’t crumble with a 64 ball 52 before being the last man out as Notts finished on 263 just after tea.

It was an interesting innings by Nottinghamshire. They maybe lack a batsman that can slow things down a bit in the middle order. The batsman dominated in spells but lost their wickets at times where they should have just hung in the game for another half hour. Nash being the perfect case of this as he pulled Gregory straight to Jack Leach at deep mid-wicket for 58.

Notts have the type of bowling attack to pull things around on this ground and Stuart Broad did just that. Alongside Jake Ball, neither bowler tried too hard and bowled good lines and lengths to make the openers think about what was to come.

Each of Somerset’s top three were dismissed for 10. First to go was Azhar Ali lbw to Broad. Trescothick who had batted for the best part of an hour was to be Broad’s second victim in a spell of 2 for 19 from 9 overs.

James Hildreth who has moved up to third in the order was caught behind off Luke Fletcher’s first ball to one down the leg-side. Captain Tom Abell and George Bartlett saw Somerset to 74 for 3 at the close. 189 runs behind Notts.

Reflecting on the day’s play Nash summed up the day perfectly when he said, “It has been a really good days cricket on a good cricket wicket and a quick outfield.”

Day two promises to be more of the same.

Forest and Derby play out thrilling climax as points are shared

Derby County nearly snatched an unlikely win against local rivals Nottingham Forest; trailing 1-0 nil going into the final minute they could have won it in stoppage time.

Stephanie Smith equalised in the 90^th minute with a curling effort inside the area that both curled and dipped agonisingly out of the grasp of Aja Aguirre who was minutes away from keeping a clean sheet on her Forest debut.

The goal invigorated the Derby side who had to feed off scraps in regulation time. They had the momentum and deep inside injury time. Jodie Redgrave was left free of the attention of the red shirted defenders and hit a thunderous shot that thudded off the crossbar. If Aguirre did get a finger tip to that shot it didn’t lose any of its venom.

Aguirre who signed for Forest in the days before this game; on loan from Championship side Aston Villa was in good form today and pulled off some excellent saves. She did, however, have very little to do for most of the match.

Derby started the day in third but did not look like the team in form. Forest have had an inconstant season and a change in manager and a certain shuffling of players has put a new determination in their step. That determination showed today whether a local derby or not they were keen to win the midfield battle and under Sianna Bennett they did just that.

Forest was the better side in the first half, although, they did have an early scare as in the sixth minute Derby had the ball in the back of the Forest goal. It was ruled out offside and Forest may have thought they were in for a difficult afternoon.

They started to grow in the game and in the tenth minute they were in front. Helena Constantinou’s corner hung in the air over a cluster of bodies and although Sarah Morgan got her hands to the ball she could only watch as it slipped and found its way across the line.  It was difficult to tell if the keeper was impeded but the referee was in no doubt.

Forest started to dominate and should have gone into the break two up as Katie Middleton the young Forest striker used her pace to run at the Derby defence and her cross struck towards the back post found it’s target Jordan Atkin. If anything, it was hit too well, and Atkin could not direct the ball the right side of the post.

An attendance of 1252 was at the Eastwood ground to see this game a record for a Forest home game. The only attendance bigger than today's was when the two sides met at Derby’s Ipro Stadium earlier in the season. On that occasion, Derby was winner 1-0.

Forest will take a lot of heart from this game as they look to build for next season. There is no reason why this fixture in the coming seasons can’t be a fixture to look forward to not just for the fans of the two clubs but for the natural as well.

United put in solid shift to see off Foxes

At times there was little between Loughborough Foxes and Sheffield United. Cup games are great levellers of course. Although, as recently as last season these two sides lined up against each other.

United ran out winner 2-0 to set up a fifth-round tie against Aston Villa next Sunday. They were made to work for it against a well-organised Foxes side.

At any other venue, this game could have been called off for the second week in a row; as sitting water on the stadium pitch meant it was not fit to play on. Loughborough University has quality facilities and another pitch was found although squelchy in places. It did nothing though to diminish the quality of the football as both teams looked to pass it around and create the chances.

United thanks in part to their elevation to the Championship were the favourites against Loughborough Foxes a team now in the tier below. For large parts of the game, United bossed the important areas in midfield but the Foxes held on. There were times when the home side looked capable of causing an upset. Eva Rogers was sharp in attack and a couple of runs caused the United back line problems. Her best chance came on 50 minutes when she lost her marker and the ball deflected off the crossbar.

Charlotte Cooper was the first player to test either of the keepers as she broke free and forced Nikki Davies the Welsh international to make the save.

Amy Burle was the busier of the two keepers but could do nothing to stop Alethea Paul’s 14th-minute strike from the 20 yards out and curled out of the reach of Burle beat her dive.

Burle made several crucial saves, most of which denied Ebony Salmon from scoring a hat full. The best of the lot was in the forty-second minute when Salmon was again denied by a stretching stop prevented the South Yorkshire side doubling their lead just before half-time.

Much of United’s good work came down the right with Jade Pennock who put in a cross after cross only to see her efforts miss her teammates agonisingly in front of goal.

Veatriki Saari doubled the United lead finishing after a scramble inside the Foxes box reacting quicker than anyone else to make things safe for the Championship side. 

Belles and Forest battle out for share of the points

It always feels melodramatic when you say that two sporting teams are fighting for survival. Today at Eastwood that didn’t feel too far off the truth as both Nottingham Forest and Doncaster Rovers Belles scrapped their way to a hard-earned 1 -1 draw.

The Eastwood pitch an artificial surface with a decent covering of rubber crumb that was sent flying every time the players made passes or clearances. It wasn’t the only thing that way flying as the tackles came in hard and fast.

The referee did at times allow the game to carry on but was made to make two contentious calls that could have cost either side the game.

The two sides met earlier in the season with both teams yet to find their way in the division. On that occasion, it was Forest who ran out comfortable winners with a 3-1 win. The Belles must have worried that a repeat performance was about to happen.

On that October afternoon, Forest took the lead in the first minute. In this game, Forest took slightly longer but they were in the lead half way through the second minute a Trina Greeves shot across goal found its target.

Neither team settled perhaps with points at a premium neither side wanted to be the first to concede ground. The midfield was marshalled well by both sides. That changed towards the end of the first half as the Belles broke through the Forest defence and Chloe Bethell with a surging run was brought down by Grace Walters.

With another defender alongside Walters and the goalkeeper to beat it looked like a straight forward call for a yellow card. The referee felt otherwise and sent the Forest defender to the stands.

It was a harsh call. Forest was the stronger team in the first-half their physicality and willingness to win the second ball was key.

The side from Doncaster grew in belief in the second half and they did look to use their player advantage in the second half and it worked to a degree. The killer ball rarely came; it came from a mistake by Forest keeper Rebecca Thomas. who could not get low down quick enough to a Lauren Breen shot and the ball squirmed under her.

Forest carried on their assault of the Belles goal and it nearly paid off with the 90 minutes coming to an end. It was Forest midfielder Graves who on the ball in the area seemed to tumble under minimum contact and the referee pointed to the spot.

If the roles were reversed Forest would have felt hard done by. The Belles players didn’t complain and had faith that Emily Batty would save the spot-kick. That she did as the as Charlotte Griffin’s shot was comfortably saved.

Its a result moves the Belles outside of the bottom two places, while Forest remain unbeaten since the league’s return at the start of January. Both sides will take both positives from this game but they will be well aware that they have a lot of hard work to come in the following months.

My first netball match - Loughborough Lightning v Strathclyde Sirens

I had never been to a netball match until today. I’m not sure why the reason for that is. Scheduling and access would have been a major factor but in truth, netball had been well off the radar. The success of the England side has done much to change much of that.

It is a big year for netball, and it was partly due to this and a fluke in my hockey sides fixtures that I could attend. One of the big draws with netball as a winter sport is that at the highest levels it is played indoors.

I have only been to cricket events in Loughborough and it would be good to broaden my horizons. I didn’t really know what to expect going into the game. A few messages to friends who play netball reassured me that I would soon pick up the gist of things.

I was told to look out for just how physical netball can be for a non-contact sport – a bit like hockey in that respect- it did lead to one of the umpires calling the captains together to calm things down just before half-time.

I don’t think it is any secret that I have a soft spot for one of the Loughborough Lightning franchises (no prizes for guessing which one) so it was the side I chose to support in their game against Strathclyde Sirens.

One of the most impressive features of the game was just how fast and accurate the passing was; even the warm-up drills were mesmerising, with players crisscrossing each other throwing the ball in the air at different angles.

With the game about to start the teams were introduced and in showbiz style, the Loughborough Lightning team were introduced in style with the lights dimmed and a video showing the intensity that the side was going to show magnified.

The game itself was a close affair for much of the first half. The Sirens matched the Lightning scoring almost blow for blow and in Cathrine Tuivaiti they had a figurehead. Tuivaiti was always eager to get the ball and showed some outstanding pieces of skill; she made passes without looking at the player she was passing to and getting it there, she had a few tricks up her metaphorical sleeves.

The Sirens looked the stronger of the two teams in the first-half but Loughborough Lightning ended each of the first two quarters the stronger and piped the first quarter 13- 12.

The Lightning had their own figurehead in Mary Cholhok who was awarded player of the match although Tuanine Keenan who grew in confidence throughout the game and shut out the threat of Tuivaiti for much of the second-half.

Along with Ella Clark Lightning was

hardly missing the net. Cholhok never looked like missing in the first three quarters and only started to waiver off target in the fourth quarter with the match as good as won; although, the crowd were still nervous with the lead never being more than 6 points ahead.

That was until the final five minutes and the Lightning started to pull away to win 60 – 49.

The players stayed around after the game to sign autographs and the home fans went away happy having not only having seen their heroes win but also getting their autographs and posing for selfies with them.

City not blown off course in win over Brighton

Manchester City won 3-0 against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Academy stadium on a bitterly cold and windy to stay top of the FA Super League by a single point.

In an odd way, it felt like a good result for Brighton. In the two meetings between the sides, this season City has scored more than their fair share. The reverse fixture in October saw City win 6-0. only a fortnight before this game it was a 7-1 home win for City in the fog.

It looked like a familiar pattern was emerging in the second minute as City won a penalty that Nikita Parris calmly converted.

City were content to pass the ball around amount the defence in the opening stages and it was with their first foray into the Brighton half that created the penalty. Lauren Hempstead was allowed too much space and breezed in the area (sic) before being bundled over by the 16-year-old Ellie Hack. 

Chances for Brighton were few and far between in the first half as City were dominant for much of the first 45 minutes.

Brighton's best chance came in the 23rd minute as Felicity Gibbons found herself behind the City defence and fired the sort of cross that strikers dream about; Ellie Brazil unchallenged on the edge of the six-yard box met it head on only to see Karen Bardsley clutch onto the shot with relief.

It was soon business as usual as City went about finding the next goal. It came in the 31st Gemma Bonner was quickest to react to a corner that was not clear with enough conviction. 

Marie Hourihan the Brighton keeper injured her ankle in the melee and was replaced by Sophie Harris. Hourihan did join the bench tracksuited and booted in the second half.

Harris was tasked with keeping the City sharpshooters for the best part of an hour. She made a string of good saves including a shot from range by second-half substitute Georgina Stanway.

The Brighton keeper did, however, picked the ball out of the net as Parris added her second goal of the game just before half-time; again, it was a corner that was Brighton’s undoing and Parris with a close-range header made the score 3-0.

Brighton regrouped at half-time and the introduction of Ini Umotong gave the Brighton defence welcome rest bite as they had someone that looked as if they could worry the City defence.

Umotong was unlucky not to have scored on the hour as lost her defender was clear through only for Bardsley to make the save.

Brighton held their own after the break and City could not find a way through; with five in midfield, the spaces that City were passing through in the first half were no longer there.

Both teams will be happy with how they performed after the international break while the 1279 supporters in the stands will be happy to eventually defrost.

Film Review: The Favourite

I would imagine like most people I know very little about the reign of Queen Anne. I know I don’t my favourite period of history; I’m constantly disappointed about the vision set in films of this time period. I couldn’t get past the trailer for the recent version of Robin Hood.

So what makes The Favourite different? I guess it helps that it is a period in history that isn’t really part of history that is talked about much. What we do know about this period comes from the words of Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe. There are of course the may adaptations of those authors. They tell stories that still somehow feel modern.

I still didn’t know what to think of The Favourite, All I knew was I liked the actors in the cast. Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.

This is another film that proves just how good Emma Stone is. The only American in the film her English accent is very good. I don’t think I have ever seen a poor performance from Stone, then again, I have never seen The House Bunny. She was the best thing about La La Land and only Colman overshadows in this.

The Favourite does paint the picture of what the period would have been like. Based on the authors mentioned before there is that sense of a bawdiness about the society that comes across on screen. The swearing was not only funny but fitted the occasions. It was no Ian McEwen and that Atonement of the c-word.

The performances from the three leads were spot on. There was also a very convincing performance from Nicolas Holt (About A Boy).

There were shades of A Cock and Bull Story the film about trying to film Tristram Shandy the 2005 film about filming a film that is the impossible film.

I’m glad this film was a comedy and not a straight-laced drama, I now feel like exploring this period some more.

Set in the time of satire it was the perfect antidote for the current world outside the cinema walls. Hopefully, we get more comedies that live up to this, and also we need more comedy films in general.

An Oscar wouldn’t go amiss for Olivia Colman either.