The day before yesterday, I was very conscious of the need to keep cool throughout the day – nonetheless, I had made an arrangement to meet my American friend in the park at 5.00pm for a constitutional walk. We texted each other half an hour before, both of us being in a 50:50 state of mind whether to stay in or meet for a walk. We decided that the fresh air might be good for both of us and so it proved. So we made it to our ‘normal’ park bench which, we have discovered we both used to utilise regularly myself with Meg and my friend with her mother but at slightly different times of the day which is why we never actually met in the park. Nonetheless, this was a remarkable coincidence. As we chatted, we made casual conversation with the inevitable dog walkers and then started to experience a few drops of rain which I did not know was forecast. Eventually though, the rain intensified so we had to seek the shelter of a nearby tree which sheltered a bench underneath it. When I go home, I realised with some dismay that I had a line full of washing outside which had now been rained upon so had to take it back inside the house wetter than when it was put out. I knew that in World Cup, Argentina were playing Austria so I tuned in for the last 15 minutes. I was glad that I had done so because I witnessed the second of two brilliant goals that Lionel Messi scored for Argentina which have now made Messi the most prolific goal scorer in the history of the World Cup. With a hat-trick in the opening game, two goals and the record broken in the second, and a third game against Jordan to come, he is a strong contender for the Golden Boot, awarded to the top goalscorer at the finals – one individual prize he has never won. Messi has now scored in six consecutive World Cup matches, a feat only achieved by two other players – France’s Just Fontaine in 1958 and Brazil’s Jairzinho in 1970. No player has ever scored in seven straight matches. What is remarkable is that success has come late in his career as Messi is now 38 years old and he has scored most of his World Cup goals since turning 30. At the end of the match when winners typically embrace each other in celebration, I noticed that several of the Austrian players also came forward to embrace him as a testament to his remarkable footballing achievement. Later I watched a little of the France vs. Iraq game only to see Mbappe score with an unstoppable shot. Then in a remarkable development, at half time there was a threat of lightning and a thunderstorm so FIFA delayed the start of the second half for a full two hours before the game resumed. Mbappe added a second goal and Iraq were defeated 3:0. Meanwhile England are preparing for a second match in the competition with Ghana as opponents and I think that this might prove to be quite a tough and very physical match with the outcome in doubt. The political agenda at home is dominated by the resignation of Keir Starmer and the possible ‘coronation’ of Andy Burnham. There are some in the Labour Party who think that in a modern democratic party, there should be a contest for the leadership but I suspect that the majority of Labour MPs just want to see a smooth transition of power and not a summer of political hustings and some inevitable bloodletting. I came across an extremely informative article in todays ‘Times’ written by William Hague, a one time Tory ‘wonder child’ and one team leader of the Tory party. He was arguing that Andy Burnham may prove to be a more effective prime minister if he hadn’t been subject to an electoral process in his own party. Hague’s argument was. that a policy of which he was an advocate in the past but now regrets, is the giving to members of the wider political part a say in the election of a new leader. Tory constituency parties are notoriously more right wing than the parliamentary party and, in a mirror fashion, the Labour members are much more left wing. So in order to get elected, candidates are pulled towards either a rightward or a leftwards extreme and we can see. what happened in the case of Liz Truss who was only voted for by 45% of Tory MPs in the final round of voting. So Haigh argues that in any leadership election in which members have a substantial say, we get ultimate winner such as Truss or Corbyn who then adopt policies to fulfil promises made in their election campaign. I always seemed a bit counter-intuitive to me that MPs could be saddled with a leader for whom less than 50% have voted so I think I wold endorse Haigh’s misgivings about this recent trend in the election of leaders (of either Tory or Labour)
I often spend some time in extended chats with our domestic help whose day it was yesterday but I had been up since 7.00am and as part of my daily routine I now water the plants and sweep the patio to keep it clear of the moss (which occasionally drops from the roof and will stain if left) Then I left in the middle of the day for my Pilates class but fortunately found a parking place under the shade of some trees which was just as well as the temperature was 30°C (which is 84° F). The evening before, I had returned from my little outing to get some fresh air in the park and was subsequently raised upon only to be reminded upon my return to be reminded that had a line full of washing that was made damp by the rain. I took pains to keep the top of the house cool with several windows open and even a small fan brought into operation half an hour before went to bed. In the evening, there is the England vs. Ghana match in the World Cup and I am filled with a certain foreboding. Firstly, the English defence is a little suspect and secondly, there is a real contrast in styles here the English prefer a slow, patient build-up whereas the Ghanaian’s seem to have perfected quick lightning strikes after long balls punted up field. Although a lot of English fans are somewhat ‘gung-ho’, I have the feeling that this might be quite a hard fought contest with the outcome by no means certain.