Penalty shoot out

Well, we lost again: not that we deserved to win. And Italy have spared us a greater humiliation - as it would have been if we had had to meet Germany this coming Thursday. We've been enjoying the other matches, without the habitual edge-of-the-seat stuff that goes with an England game. And they have all been played in what seems like a good spirit, give or take a few theatrical dives. Of course, the logistics of a tournament straddled between two countries as vast as Poland and the Ukraine makes the mind boggle. Our local paper reports one fan to be flying out for more or less every match (and back afterwards - presumably for a very bleary-eyed next day in the office). He'll now be spared any further need to guzzle carbon - this time round at least.

Meanwhile, on our back lawn this afternoon, William and Laurie were pre-enacting that Alessandro Diamanti/Joe Hart moment.

Clinging on

A fine day in Capetown seems and is a far cry from frozen Leckhampton. It appearing improbable that England's last seven wickets would last out for a draw in the Third Test, I was particularly delighted that Ian Bell was the lynchpin of our successful rearguard action, a player I've followed since his teenage debut with "my" team, Warwickshire. (Odd how these loyalties never die: I was glad to find out recently that not only my mother's father, but also my father's grandfather were staunch Aston Villa supporters, a tradition I've clearly inherited.)

Between listening to the fluctuations in the cricket, we had a great walk in the snow, coming back through the big meadow with its ancient oaks. Developers, keep your hands off!