An upset Bumble wonders why, 40 years on, Jack Bond's Lancashire heroes have been forgotten.
Brilliant Bond deserves to be celebrated, says Bumble
Yorkshire Day rather passed me by, but never mind - the 40th anniversary of one of the most iconic games in Lancashire's history is here.
The three-wicket Gillette Cup semi-final win over Gloucestershire in 1971 is still one of the most influential and memorable days in the club's history.
You know the one - it finished in the dark. There must have been 24,000 or so rammed into Old Trafford as we chased down 230.
The match was effectively won when David Hughes, in the gloom, hit John Mortimore for 24 in an over.
We'd been offered the light before then but our captain, Jack Bond, opted to stay on. To this day, I think that's the best decision ever made in one-day cricket.
To mark the occasion, Lancashire have organised a celebratory dinner. There's just one problem - they haven't invited the players who took part!
To my mind this should be a massive occasion. I would expect to fill The Point and make it a most memorable day but it seems it will be a very low-key affair. I find it all a bit embarrassing.
I've nothing against Dickie Bird - and he was one of the umpires that day (Arthur Jepson was the other) - but why is he the chief guest? Surely that should be Jack?
Never mind, I'll find something else to do.
Short
It's the Friends Life T20 quarter-finals this week, so I'm off to Leicester before returning to Trent Bridge - the scene of England's second Test win over India on Monday.
As the match finished in four days, we didn't have enough evenings out to complete the modern pentath-naan so this set of results has been declared null and void. Everyone was quite philosophical about it and we'll start all over again in Edgbaston.
Since that defeat things have gone from bad to worse for India, with Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh ruled out of the remainder of the series.
I thought Harbhajan would be a really big player this summer, but it hasn't turned out that way and India are very firmly coming off second best.
England are fitter and stronger and India have found it really difficult to cope. Quite simply, they have been found wanting.
If you listen to their pundits and ex-players, they say the problem is the old Achilles heel - the players can't play the short ball.
Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are the exceptions - they are head and shoulders above the rest. Those two play a different game to some of the others, who look like rabbits in the headlights. One or two have really been found wanting.
The evidence is there for all to see that this is a team that is very at home on flat tracks but struggles in more awkward conditions.
Tendulkar and Dravid are world-class because they can cope with any conditions anywhere in the world - much as Sunil Gavaskar could.
Some Indian fans seem to be pinning their hopes on the return of Virender Sehwag - but what has he been doing? Has he played any cricket recently? How's he doing in the nets?
India still have issues with Zaheer Khan; even if he is declared fit, do they really want to go into a Test match with a four-man attack? It seems a bit risky to me.
I can see 4-0 coming up, to be honest.
Moved
In other news, I'm battling with my golf. I played yesterday and was rubbish.
The good news is I've got a new trolley - one of these new-fangled electric ones. It was last seen disappearing into a bush...
I'm on a health kick at the moment so after I'd finished my round I made sure I had some mushy peas with my fish and chips.
On the home front, the cast iron seat, which takes a team of navvies to shift, has been moved once again at Mrs Lloyd's behest.
At least after all that worry last week she's happy with the colour of the garage door - although these things do tend to change...
