It was always unlikely that taxpayers would ever recover their entire investment, but a more auspiciously timed IPO might at least have limited their losses.
The meal didn't begin auspiciously: bland, almost tasteless Sicilian green olives and bread delivered rather stagily in a brown paper bag, albeit with beautifully creamy butter.
Anderson's day did not begin auspiciously, however, as he dropped a regulation catch at slip to deny fellow England star Andrew Flintoff a fourth wicket when he found the edge of night-watchman Mark Davies's bat.