PHILINFRANCE

It would seem that this truly honourable and humble man kept that a secret. And, to think, there are some who would ring in to work sick when they have a little 'sniffle' - truly, inspirational, but, of course, from a different generation.

Unfortunately, once he was admitted to hospital, aged 100 and suffering from both pneumonia and COVID, this was always to be expected, and the news yesterday evening that his close family were at his bedside suggested it was only a matter of time. Nevertheless, I have no shame in admitting that my eyes are moist as I type this, and I cannot help but admire a man who gave so much, both during the war and towards the end of his very worthwhile life. His family can be very proud of him. R.I.P. Captain Sir Tom Moore.

If I recall correctly, Mark Nicholas was fronting C4's coverage back then.

An unnamed Central African country decided to introduce a strict 18H00 curfew in an attempt to curtail their rising COVID figures. As previous curfews had been widely ignored, it was decided that the security forces would adopt a 'shoot on sight' policy for people discovered outside after the start of the curfew and, as they were seeking WHO support for a vaccine, arranged for a WHO official to accompany one of their military patrols in order that they could witness how seriously the authorities were taking the crisis. Whilst walking along a street in the downtown shopping area reminding people that the curfew was starting in 15 minutes, they saw a man hurrying past them when suddenly, without warning, a soldier shot him. Horrified, the WHO official started to protest, arguing that not only was it outrageous to shoot the man without any warning, but that it was only 17H45 and the curfew hadn't yet started. The soldier replied that, not only did he know the man, but he also knew where he lived and there was no way he would have been able to make it back home before the curfew started.

Just as long as he stays on this thread, rather than moving to the OTIB Dead of 2021 thread ?.

Well, Well, I never knew that - Uruguay vs France, with 45,000 fans. Inconceivable that something like that might happen today. Of course, whilst I didn't doubt you, I had to look it up, and also found this trivia about White City. The stadium was the location of a famous public outburst by Ray Davies of The Kinks during a July 1973 performance. Davies swore onstage, and at the show's conclusion, as pretaped music played on the sound system, declared his retirement from the group. He subsequently collapsed after a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital. He would eventually recover and return to recording with The Kinks. I used to love The Kinks, and Ray Davies was also a great writer.

Great minds and all that. I was obviously typing whilst you were posting - rather slow using just the one finger.

It was not a trick question, just one item of trivia I picked up in my early years. The goal(s) to which I referred were, indeed, scored in the first ever (1923) FA Cup Final at Wembley, known as you say as The White Horse (Billie) final, although, like you, I have no idea who scored the first goal at the new Wembley. Re. animals, however, if you can recall 'Pickles', you must surely remember this famous lion.

Going off at a tangent, but do you know who was the first player to score a goal at Wembley (almost 100 years ago)? And, my late father's favourite. Do you know who scored the second goal? No need to search on Google, it is a gentle tease.

Some (too many) years ago, I used to frequent a rather pretentious wine bar in Ascot prior to a weekend evening out. Whilst my regular pre-dinner drink was invariably a dry white wine, a young, attractive, but equally pretentious hostess (more fur coat and no knickers, if truth be told) would often try to tempt me to try one of their ridiculously overpriced apéritifs or cocktails. I would always decline, but, boorish young man that I was (little has changed, apart from my age), I would often delight in asking her whether she had a particular French vermouth. As I am sure you are aware, the 'T' is rarely pronounced in French, but it is for this particular drink, and though I now I cringe when I recall those decadent times, I cannot help but giggle when I picture myself asking the poor young lady: Do you have a 'Noilly Prat'? Quite pathetic and embarrassing when I think about it now, but how I laughed at the time.

Of course, it is very easy to say that JH should have been selected, but difficult at that time to say who should have been dropped - unless you are biased towards Somerset players ?. Incidentally, I am sure that, whatever the official MCC site might say, there are three Somerset players in the current England team.

I'm not really sure about that. The current pitch has benefited from a prolonged spell of hot, dry weather, whereas weather conditions for the First Test included some extreme rainy spells.

He will be almost 40 by the end of the 2022 season, which will mark 20 years a Somerset player and, in the traditional sense of the word, an icon of this Century! I still consider it a travesty that he was never awarded an England cap, although, of course, he did 'play' for England in the Ashes at Lords, where he caught his former teammate, Ricky Ponting ?.

Angelo Mathews, who scored a fine century today, reckons it will start turning tomorrow if it stays hot - quite possible in Sri Lanka at this time of the year ?, especially as there is no rain forecast. Whilst that might assist Jack Leach and Dom Bess tomorrow, it does not bode well for England, especially as, unless they make a massive first innings score, they will be batting last.

Sounds good to me ?.

I dare say you are correct. I was simply replying to the post suggesting that Rovers' fans were 'slagging' him off, when the reality is that most were wishing him well and some, not all, were going so far as to say they would have liked him as manager.

I watched the last hour or so, and I was pretty sure it was going to peter out to a dull draw until those two overs from Cummins and Lyon yielded 26 runs.

To be fair, quite a few have wished Steve Cotterill well following his COVID attack, with several saying they would have welcomed him as a replacement for BG, or even GC.

Kandy is yet another beautiful Sri Lankan town. Once more, I stayed in a lovely colonial hotel, ate wonderful food and even timed it perfectly in order to see the elephant ceremony. No cricket, regrettably, but a lovely story about the golf - I’ll post again later.

Indeed, it was. A fine footballer in his youth, together with the two Wheeler brothers.

From memory, there were two different establishments: At the bottom of Park Street, on the right hand side just as it meets College Green, there was the BierKellar located inside the Mauritania? Hotel. The Hofbrauhaus was in Fairfax Street?, next to the bowling alley. They were both quite ‘boisterous’, but, in my experience, there was more chance of picking up a willing lady in the Mauritania one. I think, however, this might better be pursued on the ´Old Pub’ thread.

My apologies, for I was probably partly responsible for some of this due to my mentioning the beer in Hofbrauhaus.

Galle is, indeed, a most beautiful cricket ground located in a wonderful historic, picturesque town with really friendly people and exquisite cuisine - fresh fish and just about every fruit and vegetable you can think of, which sort of sums up Sri Lanka in general. I have been fortunate to have visited the country, although, regrettably, not during the cricket season, and enjoyed a truly wonderful few days in what was then the New Oriental Hotel located within Galle Fort, which wasn't new at all but (Dutch) colonialism in all its splendour. Some may have forgotten, but Galle Stadium was severely damaged in the 2004 tsunami.

Wow! Sorry to quote myself, and many apologies, but I went off at a 'slight tangent' and, two pages later, we seem to have covered practically all the pubs and clubs of our debauched youth - which brings us back to the Rovers.

I'm going off at a complete tangent here, but does anybody remember the old Hofbrauhaus in Bristol back in the 1970s? The rumour was that, rather than being imported in barrels from Germany, their beer was made by adding sparkling water to a powder/starter to make the 'infamous' beer. Is there any truth to this or is it simply one of many apocryphallies from my youth?