During the recent cricket ‘Test’ match between England and India in Nottingham, Jonathan Agnew, a presenter on the BBC’s Test Match Special radio programme, read out a poignant letter from a listener which touched the hearts of everyone who heard it. From Patrick Taylor, it told the story of his father, lifelong cricket fanatic John, who had recently died. Using cricket parlance, Patrick described his father’s long battle with illness. He wrote: “John had faced ‘a beamer’ in the form of leukaemia, the ‘yorker’ of muscular dystrophy, the ‘googly’ of Parkinson’s and the ‘reverse swing’ of diabetes. At the age of 83, he finally faced the inevitable, unplayable delivery and left the field of play.” Patrick recalled that before John died they shared a wonderful moment together, listening to Test Match Special, a cult programme which is an institution for cricket lovers in the UK.