Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

151 Back to Broughton Astley pretence to the trappings that characterise a home with the feminine touch. There is no domestic help for whom he might feel obliged to tidy away the scattered papers. With a bungalow he finds no need of a window cleaner. Neil may give a hand with the hedge, but the large lawn at the back is Mike’s to keep down and the leaves at the front are his to sweep up. The recording of these memories of Mike has provided the chance to see an instinctive concern for the comfort of his guests. The bed is religiously aired – with rubber hot-water bottles redolent of the gas-mask and ration-book era. The oven may not have been used for years, but the toast and boiled eggs are of Savoy standard, the slices of ham from the butcher are of generous proportion, the potatoes boiled by a skilled hand. What matter that the mustard is nine years beyond its use by date? The welcome extends to ensuring that the sitting room is warm. The log-burning stove, regularly rattled to keep it on the go, is refuelled with a Mike Smith speciality, bricks made from old newspapers, the product of an environment-friendly machine through which his daily paper and those of neighbours are recycled. Mike’s day begins early. Down to the paper shop for the Daily Telegraph – the crossword has to be tackled – and a Times for his friend and neighbour Peter Cook, the widowed nonagenarian father of umpire and former Test player Nick Cook. For many years the family butcher, Peter Cook has lived since childhood within a hundred yards of the Bird/Smith home at Broughton Astley. A sharp ring on the bell and Mike lets himself into the Cook home with a reassuring shout. Does Peter need any help with getting his socks or shirt on? ‘Tell your missus not to button them right up to the top when she irons them,’ he suggests to Nick on one of his regular visits to see his dad. The daily visits to Peter – with cover from other neighbours if Mike is away – bring their own special reward, for Peter has Sky TV and a nice big screen to go with it. And this is where Mike is to be found most evenings with the set sure to be tuned to one of the sports channels. Mike’s own television receives only terrestrial programmes, but with his daily paper it keeps him abreast of the news, and he finds no need of more advanced technology – no mobile, no computer and certainly no email or engagement with the internet. Another perhaps less reliable perk of keeping a watchful eye on Peter is the chance of a good tip from Nick, part