would be completed by the end of April but fears that those matches which did not fall victim to the weather would be watched by a shivering handful of spectators clad in fleeces and clutching hip flasks proved unfounded. Instead the Championship enjoyed something a mini-Indian summer, during which, a few freezing days apart, matches reached a natural conclusion in beautiful spring sunshine. Good crowds attended the May Day weekend’s Clydesdale 40 fixtures and the Whitsun weekend enjoyed glorious weather, with temperatures reaching 28c. Seven Championship fixtures arranged for what would have been the old Whit Monday Bank Holiday (24 May) began in perfect conditions. A week later the Spring Bank Holiday match at Headingley started with Yorkshire at the head of the table and Lancashire in third place behind Nottinghamshire, who had games in hand. Yorkshire’s young opener Adam Lyth, with 853 first-class runs, needed 147 to complete a thousand before the end of May but fell for a second-ball duck on Monday. Bad weather either restricted play or ruled it out altogether in all the matches on the first and fourth days – Saturday and Tuesday – and all six were drawn. Lancashire had the best of the Roses match, Tom Smith registering a maiden Championship hundred, and Phil Mustard, newly-appointed as Durham’s captain, also made a century at Edgbaston, where Warwickshire’s Pakistani-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir took eight for 114. In the second division James Taylor (206 not out) and Andrew McDonald (176 not out) shared an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 360 for Leicestershire at Grace Road, only for Middlesex to respond in style on the Monday. After three wickets had gone for 35 in reply to Leicestershire’s 464 for three declared, Owais Shah (156) and Neil Dexter (118) added 266 for the fourth wicket in 68 overs. At New Road, Moen Ali posted a hundred for Worcestershire. In the Clydesdale 40 the Netherlands had mixed fortunes, winning at Derby on Sunday and losing on Monday at Northampton, while Scotland were defeated at Southampton and Canterbury. Bangladesh followed on at Lord’s on Sunday – the fourth day – only for Tamin Iqbal (a sparkling 103) and Imrul Kayes to lead the fight back with an opening partnership of 185. By the close they were 328 for five, 105 ahead and on Monday 9,000 spectators took advantage of MCC’s final-day ticketing arrangements of £10 for adults and free for under 16s. People were also allowed to perambulate the ground during the lunch interval; as Michael Atherton wrote in The Times : “the sight of the crowd playing cricket, meandering or simply looking at the pitch was almost as welcome as the defiance offered by Bangladesh. Perception is everything and many will have gone away from Lord’s yesterday with a different view of what has traditionally been regarded as a stuffy and pompous club.” Bangladesh lasted until lunch, England knocking off the 160 needed for victory for the loss two wickets. Jonathan Trott, 226 in the first innings, remaining unbeaten at the end with 36. England enjoyed sunnier conditions during the afternoon at Lord’s but the weather on Sunday and Monday was generally cool and overcast with thick grey clouds and, in parts, a raw wind. On Sunday, 2,250 had braved the conditions at Headingley Carnegie and almost 3,000 turned up on Monday. At Trent Bridge, the attendance was slightly above normal for the Nottinghamshire-Essex game. It was a similar story on August Bank Holiday Monday when sunny if cool weather greeted a programme of seven Clydesdale 40 matches which produced some excellent cricket. Sadly attention was focussed on the previous day’s events when The News of the World carried allegations of spot fixing centred on the Dying Embers 194