Stayed last night in Garstang where, purely by chance, I caught the last ten overs of the one-day match between England and Sri Lanka. With England eight wickets down and needing nearly 100 more runs, Sri Lanka looked odds-on to win. Buttler and Woakes kept the run-rate ticking over, then Woakes and Plunket looked to get 14 off the last over. They needed 7 off the last ball - impossible, unless the bowler bowled a wide or a no-ball. But Plunket sent the ball up into the night sky and over the rope. Six: a tie! For sheer excitement it beat any of the games I have watched in the European Championship (and I was the only person in the pub watching it, apart from the barmaid… who looked like she was overdosing on a surfeit of football)…
The names of off-licenses reflect local tastes and predilictions. In London, Bath and Cheltenham, they’re branded as ‘The High and Hampstad Fine Wine Emporium’. In Barnsley they’re called ‘Bladdered’, in Runcorn ‘Rat-arsed’. Here, in Preston, the locals go to ‘Booze Inn’…
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