Pursuits

There is a particular silence before the first ball is struck on grass. It is not complete silence. Someone coughs. A programme folds. Somewhere above the court, a pigeon makes an administrative decision. Yet for...

A cricket match can appear, to the uninitiated, to be taking its time. This is part of the misunderstanding and part of the pleasure. Nothing is happening, until suddenly the entire field moves. A bowler...

There was a time when arriving was only part of the point. Roads were slower, maps were folded badly, luggage had to fit somewhere it was never designed to fit, and the journey could acquire...

A theatre begins before the curtain rises. It begins at the door, in the small compression of people entering from the street, in programmes being bought, coats surrendered, seats discovered and glasses carried too carefully...

Before a race begins, a racecourse is a place of theories. Someone has studied the form. Someone likes the grey. Someone has heard something from someone who knows a trainer. Someone intends not to bet...

On land, wind is weather. On water, it becomes information. It fills one sail, empties another, changes the angle of a boat and rearranges a race without asking permission. Sailors learn to read what cannot...