Inside the JM Finn Stand at The Oval, opposite the pavilion, is a staircase that leads up to the Test Match Special commentary box. It is used by media and spectators alike.
In the hours after the sensational fifth Test between England and India ended, with the ground emptying, on that staircase was found a left shoe, then some underwear, then a right shoe.
Because of their size, they presumably belonged to a man. Quite how the owners misplaced them, or when they realised their loss, is unclear. However, it raises the prospect that someone left this famous old ground both shoeless and pantless.
It would have been entirely in keeping with the mayhem that had already played out on Monday morning.
There had been 57 minutes of the most intense, dramatic and emotional sport you could ever wish to see.
Twenty-five days of gripping Test cricket came down to a one-armed man painfully scampering 22 yards of south London turf. One wonders how the productivity of the UK was affected at the beginning of the working week, or how many offices in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru closed early.
There had been an element of farce to the previous evening. Players went to the dressing rooms because of rain and bad light when the game was on a knife-edge, then stayed there as the gloom turned to evening sunshine.
Any frustration over the events of Sunday turned into anticipation of what might be possible on Monday. Thirty-five runs or four wickets. The Oval was sold out, but would anyone bother to turn up?
Turn up they did, filling this historic venue with constant noise and nervous energy. There were echoes of the 2005 Ashes classic in Birmingham, when Edgbaston was full for what might have only been two deliveries of action. Just like then, there was a rich reward for turning up. India’s six-run win here is the narrowest of its kind in this country since England beat Australia by two runs 20 years ago.
