Magnificent Mighty Mike delivers Masters momentum

The last set of Christmas presents I received said a lot about the concerns that family members must have about my stress levels and general lack of fitness.

I got a massage machine which you strap around your back or neck – or any body part I suppose – which is designed to recreate the feeling of proper human massage hands. The aches and pains picked up on the punting battlegrounds can be soothed away.

I also got all sorts of relaxing scents. It is amazing how the brain can be so influenced by what goes up the nostrils. There are smells out there, my friends, that you will not even know you like until you get a piece of it. Everyone loves the classics – freshly-baked bread, freshly-mown grass, freshly-brewed coffee, anything with the word freshly in really – but there is a whole new world of nose action out there if you look hard enough.