What elements do you think are necessary for a good day at work?

I think for a good day at work, I like to have… something that isn’t kind of a business-as-usual or repetitive task. Something new, fresh, exciting that’s a bit of a challenge. I also think a good day involves some form of collaboration as part of a team, where you get to take things seriously and do some good, constructive work, but also have a bit of a laugh, maybe some nonsense, and have a balance between focus and enjoyment.

Describe your ideal Sunday afternoon.

My ideal Sunday afternoon I think would be in the summer. Sitting and watching, with a couple of my mates, some form of cricket, probably international Test cricket. So the sun’s out, we’ve probably made some food. England are playing against someone. A couple of drinks, relaxing, chatting while we watch.

What’s your most memorable travel experience?

There’s a few! I think going to Vietnam with my friend from school. We tried to do motorbiking, having not got licences, but you know, that wasn’t a problem there. But we tried doing that because we were going to do the part of the Top Gear road trip that they did, like, 20 years ago, which was part of our childhood. We hired motorbikes, but the roads are quite terrifying in Vietnam! We were practising around where we were staying. My friend had to turn down a really narrow road – he signalled, went across the road to turn, missed the turning and went straight into a wall. It was very low speed! No one was hurt. It was just very funny and memorable. I still think about that a lot. So, oh, I’d like to point out we then decided not to do the motorbiking ourselves, off the back of that. We were sensible and went with a guide instead.

What is a recent piece of media that stuck with you and why?

It’s very recent, but I watched the documentary on Netflix about the chess scandal that happened a couple of years ago between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann. Niemann was accused of cheating in various different ways. And I watched it because I’d heard about it and I don’t know anything about chess. And it was so interesting, because it just seems like the whole chess world kind of went into meltdown about it. And Hans Niemann, at the end, basically said he can’t have a conversation about chess ever without that being brought up, and it’s kind of ruined his career and he probably didn’t even cheat. I don’t think they can prove it. They made a report and concluded there was no evidence he cheated. The dichotomy of chess being seen as quite boring versus that story was just so bizarre. I’d recommend it.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a professional cricketer and then I realised I wasn’t tall enough to be a bowler. I wasn’t good enough at the other positions, I was a specialist bowler and good for my age, but I was never tall enough to actually go and do it professionally. Then I wanted to be a cricket journalist. Because I thought, if I can’t play cricket, travelling around the world and writing about cricket seems like a good idea.

What menu would you choose for your last meal?

I think about this quite a lot! And it changes quite a lot. I’d have bruschetta to start, and then I’d want a curry from Salim’s, the local curry house in Loughborough that me and my mate used to go to all the time. I’d get chicken tikka karahi with a garlic naan. Then I’d have my mum’s maple syrup cheesecake for dessert. I’m very blessed that my mum is very good at A, cooking, and B, particularly desserts. She made that one recently after not making it for ages and it was very sweet because it was the first time for my nephews. They tried it and one of them, their eyes just lit up immediately at the first bite – it was that kind of “Ratatouille” moment. My dad and I had a lovely bottle of red wine in Paris when we went on a trip there, and I can’t remember exactly but it might have been a Côtes du Rhône, and he was like “this is great” and I just remember thinking, yeah. I’d have that Côtes du Rhône that I had on a trip to Paris with my dad.

Marmite?

Yes.

Agile or waterfall?

Waterfall.

Summer or winter?

Summer.

Schumacher or Alonso?

Alonso.