"Gutted to see Steve Smith breaking down,” tweeted Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar this morning. “And also the way people are treating him. It's sad, leave that poor chap alone now." Five days into the ball tampering scandal it was a wretched day for Australian cricket. Hard to watch. First, Cameron Bancroft’s press conference in Perth – just about holding it together. Then deposed captain Steve Smith’s in Sydney:, clearly a man overwhelmed by his suffering, in total de

Are you a rower or a runner? This week has been a succession of lasts – my final Annual Meeting on Sunday, my final Governing Body meeting on Tuesday, my final Luncheon Club on Wednesday, my final church leaders’ breakfast yesterday morning, my final Finance committee last night. And this morning, in about 45 minutes time, my final morning in our church school. Phew. And all this as I approach my final Sunday as vicar of Christ Church, on Sunday 8 April. One of the gl

It must have been particularly difficult having a conversation with Stephen Hawking, especially towards the end of his remarkable life. His colleague, Leonard Mlodinow says as much, as he wrote in yesterday’s New York Times. “Stephen could compose his sentences at a rate of only about six words a minute. At first I would sit impatiently, daydreaming on and off as I waited for him to finish his composition. “But then one day I was looking over his shoulder at his comput

By any reckoning Qin Shi Huang was obsessed with his own mortality. Even at the age of 13, as soon as he assumed the throne in 246 BC, work began on preparing his mausoleum. No less than 720,000 people were involved in its construction which took place over some 37 years. You could say this underground burial site was somewhat over-the-top. Preparations included the manufacture of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, all in terracotta.

“When the seat belt sign illuminates, you must fasten your seat belt . .” I’ve always been fascinated by the inflight passenger safety announcement given before take-off. No doubt years of experience and hours of committee work have gone into preparing this important briefing, what we should do should there be an emergency. And it’s a succinct summary of how to handle life. More to the point, it is often counter-intuitive. “In some cases, your nearest exit may be beh