It's taken over a year for us to know this, but The Oval Test of the 2009 Ashes was Andrew Flintoff's last game of competitive cricket. The losing battle with injury was finally conceded on the last day of a, for him, empty 2010 English season.
Think of Saturday's day of inaction at Edgbaston not so much as a washout as a pause for half-time at the two-and-a-half Test point of the 2009 Ashes. It hasn't been a series of great science, but it's not dull. And we still don't really know how it's going to finish up.
If Graeme Swann never bowls another ball, let him be remembered for that dipping, inswinging off-break which suckered Australian should-be-captain Michael Clarke on the final morning of the Second Test at the Home of Archery.
Today is the start of Andrew Flintoff's fourth-last Test match for England. Let's prepare the testimonials, the eulogies, the merchandise, the 2010 IPL contract. Bugger the Ashes.
It's no longer a six. It's a DLF Maximum. And we had to wait until the eighteenth over of the Mumbai innings for the first DLF Maximum of the 2009 Not-so-IPL, tonked by Abishek Nayar off Andrew Flintoff.
Not content with that, Nayar clubbed another two DLF Maximums (or is that DLF Maxima?) off Flintoff later that over.
And if that's not enough, Mark Bloody Nicholas was the commentator.
What follows is a collection of live blog posts I conducted on the opening day of the 2009 Indian Premier League:
It's meat market day today at the Great Southern Regional Cattle Saleyards in Western Australia. We'll have reports when available, but meanwhile the cattle sales have begun at the Great Northern Saleyard in Goa.
Congratulations to Andrew and Rachael Flintoff on the birth on Wednesday of their 6lb 14oz baby boy, National Public Radio newsreader and Alaskan mafiosi Corey Flintoff.
With the distinguished American broadcaster's birth coming thirteen days early, His Freddiness celebrated at Mohali on Thursday by winning the toss and scoring 4 not out.
