Day of mixed emotions and a skip to the loo

I thought the fact that my mother was not at Lord's to watch me - she died three weeks ago - would hit me hard when I took the field yesterday .. The one intervention that I needed to make came when I picked up Pietersen's necklace when he was hit on the helmet.

There were 41 dot balls in the first six overs of this game, but it didn't mean it was any less intriguing than the instant biff-bang-wallop of Twenty20. Did those spectators who turned up to see whether the self-proclaimed South African mean machine would live up to their arrogant pre-match propaganda feel disappointed when it turned out their fast bowlers couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo?

Rather than verbals, this time South Africa gave Pietersen the silent treatment, the cold shoulder. So much so that he was reduced to striking up a conversation with Billy Bowden, the umpire, within his first few minutes at the crease. Not that the silence equated to a softly-softly approach. South Africa's plan for Pietersen clearly involved a liberal sprinkling of bouncers and, er, a few more bouncers ... But after that there was precious little evidence of the planning that Smith had spoken about before the match. Mid-wicket, for example, Pietersen's favourite area, was constantly left untenanted.

Wednesday: The game is at the forefront of my mind and I'm trying to visualise my first ball - hitting the bat hard or over the top of off stump. We had a good net session and Fred was back, which was great to see, although I had to face him and he nearly took my nose off!