It was nerve-wracking coming to get my results. I was totally unsure what they would be. My offer from Sheffield was three As and my insurance offer from Leeds was also three As.

The requirement for advice being received well is that you’ve produced results with your life. Results are what matters!

The results are totally managed, planned and rigged.

He talked about it having a central spine with these little offshoots, I guess you'd call them nerve-endings, coming off it, ... These little other strands that he kept reiterating, in which every scene had to push that central spine.

In hindsight, given the way they used the ball, there was enough on offer. It looked like it was going to be a bat-first wicket. But that time under the covers just gave the wicket that little bit of movement and they exploited it very well.

Not that pain is the worst thing in the universe. Interesting things happen when you adapt pain for your own. This thing you were prepared to spend your life flinching from is suddenly just another piece of information.