National Anthem in English cinemas). It's a pity, of course, that the younger Compton cannot ask his Grandfather for some advice about touring and how to make the most of it.  What he could do, I suppose, would be to read Denis Compton's (very readable) 1958 autobiography 'End of an Innings '.  I thought, as a public service, I might run some brief extracts from that work, in case he finds himself at a loose end in a hotel room, with only a laptop for company. What he won't find is very much (in fact anything, really) in the way of technical analysis -- no thoughts about the best way to play spin in the subcontinent, for instance (not that Compton Senior ever toured India).  What he would find is a great deal about the social side of touring.  It is important to remember here that tours in those days could last up to five months (about the same length as the average season) and seems to have involved an endless round of social engagements, at which the players were expected to be conscious at all times of acting as ambassadors for the Mother Country to what were, or had recently been, colonies. The first thing to do to ensure a successful tour, it appears, is to select the Captain.  Compton toured under a few of them -- Wally Hammond (uncommunicative), Freddie Brown (good fun) and Len Hutton (didn't rate at all).  His favourite Captain, though was George Mann, who