The trumpet shall sound...

.....no not the trumpet which sounds when the rag and bone man comes round at the weekend looking for scrap metal; nor the wonderful piece by Handel which is one of my favourites....

........but rather Billy Cooper trumpeter for the Barmy Army who will apparently be welcome with open arms for the final Test Match of this summer's Ashes series at the Oval beginning Thursday.

....or not perhaps because Billy may be engaged elsewhere having been told earlier in the year he would only be allowed to play at Cardiff and Birmingham.

There are those of course who believe that cricket should still be played against the backcloth of polite applause and the occasional snore from the direction of the members' seats. Timelord is not one of these old timers notwithstanding his many regenerations. Just because some spectators drink too much or over step the mark by some of their jeering of our opponents does not mean we should return to crowd conditions for watching paint dry.

Many of us thought the return of the Ashes would be long gone by the time of the final Test but there is still all to play for. So let's hope there will be more Englishmen than Billy with reason to blow their trumpet in another week's time.