There was a large handwritten sign propped against the inside wall of the North Gate of Lord’s. “In affectionate remembrance of Bazball,” it said, the letters drawn in the bacon‑and-egg colours of an MCC tie, “which died at Lord’s on 10 July, 2025. RIP.” The stewards must have taken it off one of the Indian fans who hadn’t read the small print on his fifth-day ticket. Lord’s being the place it is, instead of stuffing it into a bin, they had put it aside and popped an item ticket on the top corner in case the writer wanted to pick it up on his way back out of the ground.
It was still there six hours later, waiting for someone to reclaim it at the end of one of the great Tests.
