It was a cold, gloomy, overcast day yesterday - hardly in keeping with the alleged `height of Summer`, but the day being Fathers Day my eldest son and I treated ourselves to another visit to Canterbury where Kent were to play Essex in the T20 cricket in what had been dubbed the battle of the bridge - the one which separates the two counties as it spans the Thames.   I suppose the tussle of the tunnel might have been equally as eloquent but it all added to the hype surrounding these T20 Blast games.

Kick-off was supposed to be at 2.30pm but heavy overnight rain delayed proceedings for an hour, leading to play beginning at 3.30pm.   To be fair, the ground staff and the umpires did well to get the game under way at all, so it was a bit of a surprise that, having won the toss, Essex decided to field first.  That suited Kent rather well and they hammered the Essex bowling for 236 for 3, their highest score in the T20, thanks to 69 from Zak Crawley, 88 from Daniel Bell-Drummond and an undefeated 42 from Jack Leaning.

In reply Essex made a decent start but in the end were no match for Kent`s bowling attack and athletic fielding, reaching 169 all out to secure Kent yet another T20 victory this time by 67 runs.  The in-form Leaning not only added to his batting display earlier on but displayed his bowling prowess by taking 3-15 in two overs and also taking a quite stunning catch off his own bowling - surely a man-of-the-match all round performance.

So, despite sitting in the gathering gloom, the cold of the day had turned into the comfort of a resounding and altogether convincing Kent win.  Nice one.   But the thing about going to the cricket especially in a traditional ground like Canterbury is that whilst the game itself may be the reason to go there, there is so much more to it than that.  Even for the relatively short duration of a T20 game nevertheless it becomes something of a day long expedition and you have to be prepared for any eventuality.

So we took a selection of clothing which helped but did not quite defeat the inclemency of the English mid Summer and also enough food and drink to keep us going.  And it`s here that people have choices.   Some go the whole hog and come prepared with a considerable array of delicacies;  others prefer to buy burgers and chips from the attendant burger bar; whilst those like me go more for - how shall I say? - cordon noir?  My own sustenance on this occasion consisted of a pork pie, a tomato, an excellent Eccles cake courtesy of Messrs. Marks and Spencer, a penguin (the chocolate variety) and a flask of hot coffee.

I noticed too the attitude of the assembled sell-out crowd when confronted with the announcement of a delay before the umpires would inspect the pitch to see if play could begin.  This was met with a kind of resigned acceptance, a collective shrugging of the shoulders, leading most to invade their packed lunches and while away the time with polite discourse.   Had the same thing happened at a football match, I imagine there would have been a riot.

So, in the end another excellent, enjoyable and rewarding day successfully negotiated -  even if it was comforting to get back in the car and turn the heating up.