In what proved his final Test at Lord's he felt so aggrieved at the first innings umpiring decision that led to his dismissal that he swore loudly and swung his bat at a mantelpiece on his way back through the pavilion.
He was seated on the rolled-up rug, his back against the mantelpiece, elbows on his knees, dangling with forefinger and thumb a nearly empty paper cup of red wine.
As the smoke and charred remains of the Guardian cleared, I saw the mother of my children, with a smug look of satisfaction, blow out the match and place the matchbox back on the mantelpiece.
Under his keen eye, dozens of carved wooden sea chests were joined into a towering mantelpiece, and curved Regency chair backs became ornamental window frames.
Instead his hand rests on the back of something – a sofa, a mantelpiece.
Plan how to create a long enough tunnel system, and temporarily attach it to something high, such as the back of a chair or couch, a mantelpiece, or other furniture that appears suitable.
His mantelpiece is bare, apart from a European Film Academy audience prize for Bridget Jones Diaryy back in 2001.
And this year there's an extra hi-tech twist: they now come with a built-in video camera, so kids can film their battles and post them online, and adults can fondly play back the moment their favourite ornament flew off the mantelpiece.
A copy can be seen on the mantelpiece on the cover of Bob Dylan's 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home".
IT is something of a paradox," Conor Brady, the editor of The Irish Times, remarked a few years back, "that a director who may have a Tony on his mantelpiece will have no corresponding award from his Irish peers".
