England v South Africa, Second Test, Friday 1 August 2003 Lord's, London

The saying goes "like father, like son", and the Martin-Jenkins family has proved the old adage.

Less than a day after Robin Martin-Jenkins gave the "Ed Smith for England" campaign the thumbs up, Martin-Jenkins Snr was at it as well.

Thorpe has been a wonderful player but if I was a new captain I wouldn't want a player with questionable commitment Angus Fraser

Graham Thorpe has repeatedly been mentioned as the man to beef up England's middle order, although the general consensus in the box is that his recall would be unlikely.

"It depends on what Thorpe and England do in the next few weeks," CMJ explained.

"If England go one-down, as seems likely, there will be a strong temptation to bring him back, particularly if he makes a timely 100, although he hasn't actually got all that many runs this season.

"There is a young batsman pushing his stall out pretty plainly in Ed Smith.

"What will probably happen to him, as has happened to a few in the past, is that he'll get picked for the Oval, make a pair and never get picked again, as happened to Alan Wells all those years ago.

"But he's at the right age to be getting to his peak, although he's not a very great fielder which has counted against him in the past."

TMS is claiming a victory in the effort to modernise cricket.

Keen clock watchers would have been surprised to tune in shortly after 1200 BST to hear commentary on live cricket.

In the last Test at Lord's rain delayed the start, only allowing for what felt like a moment's play before lunch was taken.

Malcolm Speed's visit to the box during that match saw Jonathan Agnew having a word in his ear over the ridiculous nature of the rulings which denied the crowd much morning action.

And hey presto, just over two months later, the ICC have re-worked the regulations.

Now, if play is delayed and starts between 1145 and 1215, lunch is put back to 1315.

"It really is good news," Aggers remarked. "It's extraordinary, but cricket is finally dragging itself into the 21st century.

"It only took 130 years," Mike Selvey added.

Now the team will turn their attention to the judiciary which Selv has heard operates on the same timetable as cricket, with 40 minutes for lunch and tea at four o'clock.

Herschelle Gibbs is full of praise for his skippers past and present, following South Africa's good start to the series.

"The opening bowlers set the tone from ball one," Gibbs told TMS, reflecting on day one at Lord's.

"Polly [Shaun Pollock] was consistent and didn't give any loose balls or runs away.

"It works well with Makhaya Ntini taking wickets from the other end and all the bowlers put it in the right place.

Smith's a burly player and looks like a Biffer Mike Selvey

"It's up to myself and Biff [Graeme Smith] to set a foundation and at the moment we're going nicely.

"Graeme's obviously in terrific form and batting with confidence. So am I and confidence is important for any sportsman."

Talk of confidence echoed a conversation Gibbs and TMS summariser Angus Fraser had at their hotel during the Edgbaston Test.

"I was surprised to see a South African team lacking confidence. Normally they have huge self belief, bordering on arrogance," Gus explained.

"I spoke to Gibbs and all he kept saying was that they needed a good start. He repeated it two or three times."

Two matches down and two good starts. We'll find out if he said it three times and then you can get down to the bookies with a banker bet of another century stand between Gibbs and Smith.

Another Friday and yet more rain at a Test, but spirits remain high in the commentary box despite the low cloud.

"It's raining, drizzling and mizzling," were Henry Blofeld's bleak welcoming words from Lord's.

But umpire Darryl Hair remained confident that, unlike the Friday at Edgbaston, play would get underway once the "gloomy light" had cleared.

Fun & Games: Blowers on the boundary

And Blowers was soon cheered by the man in the white coat when umpire Hair described the TMS commentator as a "legend".

"What a pity I don't make comeback," Blowers remarked. "With an umpire like that I'd never be out."

Looking out on a soggy square can be a sobering experience at the start of the day.

However, there's invariably something that will make a smile break out on an old hack's face and the sight of Mike Atherton with mic in hand did the trick.

The former England captain - aka Captain Grumpy - was out in the middle interviewing Shaun Pollock and an array of ground staff, as well as giving a pitch report for Channel 4.

"He was a bloke you couldn't get blood from a stone from," Mike Selvey said.

"Look at him now, you can't stop him talking. Talk about poacher turned gamekeeper."