Adam Leventhal is smiling despite the rain, as he meets two of Edgbaston's more colourful characters.
TJ and Pat put a smile on Adam's face and add some colour to his piece
My detail on preview day was to provide colour to the good viewers of
Sky Sports News. Easier said than done when there's the sort of rain coming down that would have made Noah worry.
There was only one place to start in my quest to bring a bit of sunshine. It may not sound like the most glamorous of places, but I new the gatehouse at the main entrance of Edgbaston was the perfect place. In the small hutch just next to the outdoor nets live two men that are arguably one of the best comedy partnerships this world has to offer.
Forget Morecambe and Wise, Laurel and Hardy, Hale and Pace, Ant and Dec and The Chuckle Brothers, they've got nothing compared to TJ and Pat!
They managed to cheer me up in no time after I stepped out of the apocalypse and into their cosy little world. Both of them wrapped up in cagoules, broke into song straight away and were cracking jokes about Ian Bell being a Villa fan. They saved the best for last providing the perfect send off with a beautiful rendition of You Are My Sunshine (my dearly departed pa would have loved it).
Big kids
The next stop on my fun bus was the Golf GTI tent which was filled with a load of big kids with familiar faces. Surrounding a giant Scalextric track were Colly, Jimmy, Ravi, Swanny and Oniony (doesn't work does it, neither does Grahamy, nevermind) all desperately trying to record the fastest time.
They had a Top Gear style board with lap times, and the man sitting proudly at the top was Paul "The Ginger Raider" Collingwood, think that's the right nickname, it was something along those lines. Incidentally, Ashley Giles also had a go and his nickname was "Driving Miss Daisy", don't think he was firing on all cylinders.
After the shack and track came the shop. There was a chance to have a bit more fun and I felt in the mood for some magic. The day before in my Edgbaston 2005 revisited piece I'd shot a sequence which ended up looking a bit Rentaghost, where I teleported between seats, now was time for Mr Benn.
Shazam
I was determined to get some sort of clothing related shazam into the piece and I think I succeeded. There was a whole load of t-shirts that had interesting and, in some cases, rather saucy slogans on them, so I decided to put on 20 at the same time.
Then with a little editing magic and some silly faces from yours truly, it ended up looking as if the t-shirts were peeling off me one by one. I know that I probably looked like a twerp but I'd appreciate your feedback.
To top off the piece I also interviewed the man that is helping to keep Freddie afloat. The Iceman cometh! Greg Pearce is the man behind the ice pack machine that Flintoff's been using overnight to ensure his knee doesn't end up like the Betfair blimp.
Like a true pro I got involved and sampled the sensation on my right knee too. It may have made me feel like Flintoff off the field, but rest assured I'll never get the chance to emulate the big lad on it!
