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Just occa­sion­ally there are times when a sports­writer really does have to admit there are worse things one could be doing for a living. Four days at Hove last week was one of those occasions. Glorious weather, a tight and hard-fought match between Sussex and Nottinghamshire that went to the last session, and every day’s report published in the newspaper (The Guardian) as opposed to just on the website. Even better, with the match being Friday to Monday there was only one day when I had to blog, so was able to sit outside most of the time — the picture left being taken from the seats above the new press box.

Staying nearby with relatives helped — cheap hotels can be tediously lonely places — and I was able to run every morning by the sea, before taking the train a couple of stops into Hove. Sussex look after the press very well, the new press box is behind the bowler’s arm — crumbs, there was even cake every day.

Assignments that work out as happily as that are increas­ingly rare. And you enjoy it all the more when they do.