Stefan Collini writes: 'Yes, I'd like that very much. That really would be something to look forward to.' Frank was already weakened and wasted by throat cancer, but my suggestion that we go to watch some cricket at Fenner's did seem genuinely to appeal to him. There wasn't much to look forward to by this point. On the appointed day the weather was kind, and after only a little too much fussing on my part we were finally installed on seats in front of the pavilion, the soothing sight of green and white displayed before us. Although hardly an enthusiast by temperament, Frank was a cricket-lover, always reading the scores in the sports pages and watching the TV highlights. He had played regularly while a lecturer at Reading in the 1950s ('I was never any good'), and one of the times his hangdog look would hang most doggishly was when we talked about the fact that I still played and he didn't ('Of course, you're young ... '; 90 could say that to 62).

LRB 23 September 2010 | PDF Download