When the day is done
And the ball has spun
In the umpire's pocket away
And all remains in the groundsman's pains
For the rest of time
And a day
There'll be one mad dog and his master
Pushing for four with the spin
On a dusty pitch
With two pounds six of willow wood
In the sun
When an old cricketer leaves the crease
You never know whether he's gone
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse
Of a twelfth man at silly mid-on
And it could be Geoff, and it could be John
With a new ball sting in his tail
And it could be me, and it could be thee
And it could be the sting in the ale
The sting in the ale
When an old cricketer leaves the crease
Well, you never know whether he's gone
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse
Of a twelfth man on silly mid-on
And it could be Geoff, and it could be John
With a new ball sting in his tail
And it could be me, and it could be thee
And it could be the sting in the ale
The sting in the ale
When the moment comes
And the gathering stands
And the clock turns back to reflect
On the years of grace
As those footsteps trace
For the last time out of the act
Well, this way of life's recollection
The hallowed strip in the haze
The fabled men and the noonday sun
Are much more than yarns of their day
When an old cricketer leaves the crease
Well, you never know whether he's gone
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse
Of a twelfth man on silly mid-on
And it could be Geoff, and it could be John
With a new ball sting in his tail
And it could be me, and it could be thee
And it could be the sting in the ale
The sting in the ale
When an old cricketer leaves the crease
Well, you never know whether he's gone
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse
Of a twelfth man on silly mid-on
And it could be Geoff, and it could be John
With a new ball sting in his tail
And it could be me, and it could be thee

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