The Dales Way

Today should have been a big day for the cricket club, Ben Rhydding having reached the final of the cup for the first time in their history. Having secured promotion to the top flight of the league and struggling a bit this season, this is a huge achievement. Unfortunately, the predicted thunderstorms arrived exactly on cue just after the toss was made, ten minutes before the scheduled start. The heavens opened and a deluge of rain flooded the pitch. The match was called off. But better that perhaps than a game played out to showers and frequent comings and goings between pitch and pavilion, which has so often been the pattern this dodgy summer.

I got in a bike ride before the rain arrived and I suppose the plus side to the cricket being postponed is that I've been able to feast on yet more amazing Olympic competition, watching one event in HD on the television and monitoring another on the laptop! This is the kind of silly multitasking that I scold the boys about, preferring that they focus on one thing at a time, but I haven't wanted to miss anything. I love all this technology.

The TV coverage of the sailing, watching Ben Ainslie go for a fourth successive gold, was very impressive. It brought the race right into your living room as I, for one, have certainly never witnessed before. I've only ever sailed once, in a race which involved sailing from Barmouth to Fort William, two runners from each boat having to visit the summits of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, the highest points of Wales, England and Scotland. Clearly, I was one of the runners. It was fascinating to watch the strange, almost arcane skills of the helmsman, always looking for the best wind. It gave me some sense of the subtleties involved and also the intensity of the competition. Ben Ainslie epitomised all that today. What a sportsman. What a race.

And then that was followed by watching Andy Murray finally come of age in the tennis final, taking the greatest player of all time apart on the court which he has made his own over the last 10 years. Murray has long promised that kind of performance but has never quite delivered on the big occasion. I don't think the English have ever taken Andy (being Scottish) to heart in quite the same way that they did Tim Henman, but that might change now. I was really pleased to see him avenge so many heart-breaking defeats today. It was a quite astonishing performance.

So much else that could be talked about, but I need to get some food prior to sitting down to watch the athletics tonight. The 100m final should be completely riveting. I trust that wherever you are in the world, you are enjoying this celebration of the human spirit and endeavour as much as I am!

PS By a bizarre coincidence I've just noticed that my year ago shot was taken from a spot about 100 yards away from this one. You can see the same wall being featured!

PPS What a performance by Usain Bolt.