Harold Pinter described cricket as ‘greater than sex’.
In a Test Match Special interview with Brian Johnston in 1990 he said, ‘Cricket was part of my life from the day I was born.’ For the second half of his life – from the age of 39 until his death in 2008, aged 78 – Pinter played for and then presided over Gaieties CC, a wandering club of mavericks and dissenters, many with links to theatre.
When I joined Gaieties in 2000, Harold’s playing days were over. A batsman with a gritty defence, he could occasionally hit sixes but, by his own admission, lacked concentration.
In my second game, he
