And another auction...

Raced back from Warwickshire on Tuesday afternoon where I was giving a speech, to Lord's Cricket Ground in Marylebone to do an auction. The Long Room as a venue never fails to excite a would-be opening England batsman like myself. The room only holds 120 people but has a special atmosphere of its own. The cricketer being honoured that night was the English Test and One Day International, Vikram Solanki. The guest speakers were Carol Thatcher, Graham Hick (he of 132 centuries) and Mark Ramprakash (he of 97 centuries), whose testimonial is next year, so don't be surprised when he gets his 100th century before his big event at Grosvenor House. The evening raised just over £22,000, which was shared between Birmingham Children's Hospital and Mr Solanki. A fun evening.

I'm off to Birmingham tomorrow to do an auction for the Get A Head charity which raises money to fight head and neck cancer. I will report back to you on Monday.