John Pilgrim – Cricket and a xylophone interlude at Sir Patrick Moore’s house

Having difficulty getting around is a problem but I manage to take the spaniel out twice a day so in between walks I generally turn the box on.

There was a time when apart from watching cricket, I wouldn’t have dreamed of turning the screen on earlier than 6pm but that’s all changed now.

I even find some adverts clever and funny, although there are many more that drive me crazy.

Some time ago I was invited to his home in Selsey by Sir Patrick Moore. I interviewed the great man and inevitably the subject of cricket came up. Patrick suggested that since the test match was on TV I might like to stay for lunch and maybe tea so that we could watch the match together.

The only problem was that the match was on commercial television and because he hated the adverts he insisted on watching the match with channel switching button in hand ready to switch channels at the merest hint of an advertising break.

I can see him now hunched forward in his armchair staring through his monocle uttering such phrases such as “oh jolly good show” and “the trouble with the Aussies is that they are not gentlemen”.

We took a light lunch which lasted the same amount of time the players had and returned for the afternoon session but not before Patrick served up a couple of tunes on his xylophone.

Later in the day it turned out that a friend was staying in the house because of marital trouble and then a well known professor turned up with his family and they were all invited to dinner which Patrick insisted on buying.

A hearty meal followed around a great dining table and with wonderful company.

Earlier in the day during the test match tea interval the professor had shown us his latest piece of technology which enabled us to see the Sun in close up without damaging our eyes.

After our evening meal Patrick informed me that the chair I was sitting in had last been used by Buzz Aldrin just days before. You can’t get closer to the man in the moon than that now can you?