I’ve been watching and enjoying the women’s international cricket, England v India. Anyone who says that “women can’t play cricket” - as a neighbour, propping up the bar in the Black Swan, insisted - should take a look at this amazing catch from yesterday’s match.
Licenced yesterday: a sign welcoming visitors to the Fenland town of Holbeach in Lincolnshire...
So England beat Denmark, thanks to an own-goal and a dodgy penalty. I’m not singling out Raheem Sterling for ‘diving’, because he was only doing what all players do: running into the penalty area in the hope that they can find a foot to trip over. Why should they stay on their feet and take a shot at goal when they could just fall over and win a penalty? However, even the idea of “winning” a penalty seems to condone cheating. When all the players are trying to con the referee, from the kick-off to the final whistle, the “beautiful game” (© Pele) is irredeemably tarnished.
Son Chas, yesterday, gazing into the distance... or, just possibly, into the future...
The Queen has awarded the George Cross, the UK’s highest award for gallantry and heroism, to the NHS to mark its public service over seven decades. Tributes… fine. Awards… fine. Recognition… fine. Clattering pots and pans on Thursday nights, to thank healthcare workers… fine, up to a point. But these displays of gratitude should be in addition to - not instead of - a substantial pay-rise. Boris’s offer of 1%, after everything that’s happened over the last 18 months, is a kick in the teeth.
Licenced today: a detail of the Ruthwell Anglo-Saxon cross, in Ruthwell Kirk, Dumfries & Galloway…
Watching England play football is usually like watching paint dry: pass the ball side-to-side across the park, then back to the goalie… and repeat as required. But last night’s game - against a shell-shocked Ukraine - was brilliant. Once Harry Kane got the first goal, England didn’t just ‘park the bus’; they got another goal, and another, and another. It was a real team effort. If they carry on playing like that, they'll be hard to beat. England play Denmark in the semi-finals on Wednesday night. Bring it on!
The towpath of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal...
The Methodist church has become the largest religious denomination in the UK to allow same-sex marriages, in contrast to the Church of England. The change leaves me rather confused. The Levitical code seems unambiguous: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:13). The Bible configures homosexual acts as a capital offence, with “the men of the town’ usually happy to combine the roles of presecutor, judge, jury and executioner. There’s no need for legal niceties once the mob is roused to moral outrage.
Have the Methodists abandoned biblical teaching, or have they conveniently ‘forgotten’ a few problematic verses? Is it really possible to update the Good Book’s ‘timeless wisdom', after centuries of anti-gay prejudice, with a show of hands at a conference of clerics? One thing’s for sure: our religious representatives really are making it up as they go along.
The word is out that I’m having a pint or two with friends tonight, so the brewery is delivering more barrels…
