The Professor Peregrine Papers

I intended to spend the morning rereading the lyric poetry of Fred "The Demon" Spofforth but, for some reason, all I could think about was that momentous day on The Parade, Worthing. I remember that I was looking to the west, waiting to hear what message the man in the hat would pass on to me. I knew I would never think in quite the same way afterwards.

The Professor's tandem was once again seen floating above us for no obvious reason.

Following several unsuccessful attempts to explain the details of the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method, the Professor demonstrated a typical scenario in his lab.  I hastily copied it down on the back of a discarded envelope.  I think I can confidently state that this experiment finally makes everything completely clear.