The Professor Peregrine Papers

As I have previously implied , the Professor is the world's leading authority on the cycling tour that the eminent author and madeleine enthusiast Marcel Proust undertook in the county of Norfolk. In the course of a peer review of the Professor's recent paper on the subject (‘An analysis and critique of the Burnham Overy Staithe off-break bowling technique in volume three of “À La Recherche du Temps Perdu”’) a number of scoundrels masquerading as eminent academics or members of the MCC have questioned the reliability of evidence relating to this pedal-based activity. The Professor would never sink low enough to enter into discussion on this point but, on his behalf, I offer a picture taken from the North Creake Gazette. It purports to show Proust playing cards with 2 Merchant Bankers, a Passing Sailor and a Marchioness just outside of Mundesley. I rest my case.  Actually, I rarely carry a case for fear that I may forget where I rested it.

The Professor often appears to be a paragon of equanimity. However, there are incidents from his past which, to this day, trouble him greatly. In particular, the difficult episode concerning Faustroll and the umpire comes to mind.  During a match at Gussage St Andrew, Faustroll instigated a heated discussion with the umpire on the interpretation of the LBW rule which then escalated into a disagreement on the way apples should be added to an apple cake. Play was suspended and fears were expressed that the entire season might be disrupted.  The Professor intervened and began to deliver a long lecture on Marcel Proust's cycling tour of Norfolk during which the celebrated author learnt the secret of bowling a particularly devious googly. Proust is said to have subsequently employed this version of the wrong'un to great effect against a visiting Norwegian eleven in a match at Balbec. So tedious did this lecture prove to be that Faustroll and the umpire agreed to differ before the P...