April Showers Put Cricket On A Sticky Wicket

Chairman of the IPL Lalit Modi (right) with

South African cricket boss Gerald Majola

Not only does the English weather spoil our holidays, garden fetes and barbecue's, it seems it has now cost us the opportunity to host The 2009 Indian Premier League Twenty20 Tournament. Shame, as it would have given a much needed boost to the English cricket scene. But IPL boss, Lalit Modi, has opted to take the tournament to South Africa, following concerns that it was unsafe to stage the matches in India. One of the reasons given was the unreliability of the English weather. Ah well, at least if the England team get humiliated, it's probably better it happens in South Africa rather than here under our noses. After all, it will be bad enough having to contend with soggy hot dogs and beefburgers.

Poem - Blankney Park

Blankney Park looking towards the lake.

Blankney may have lost it's magnificent stately Hall, destroyed by fire in 1945, but what has survived is it's wonderful park. At least, most of it has survived, because the original park was much larger than that we see today, many acres have come under the plough following the decline in the livestock trade. Since 1904 it has been home to Blankney Golf Club, one of the finest parkland courses in the country. Apart from the golf course it has many other interesting facets, some of which are described in the following poem.

Blankney Park

The gravel road, two metres wide

Snakes westward to the heath

On either side stand ancient trees

Where blue stalks grow beneath

To left and right the golf course sprawls

Where many a dimpled ball

Has been driven over this stony road

That links Green Man with Blankney Hall

A crazy paving patterned bridge

Spans the rippling pond

The now redundant rectory stands

Behind tall trees beyond

The ice house capped by grassy mound

Was once the Hall's cold store

The bomb hole, wrongly thought by some

A relic from the war

And in the centre of the park

A hidden woodland cave

The Rockery , once a hallowed shrine

Where headstones marked each grave

Buried here her Ladyship's

Favourite dog and horse

Quite unknown to most of those

Who play the nearby course

Woodland glades and grassy slopes

Ensure that it is worth

An evening stroll through Blankney park

A perfect peace on earth

-

Rodney Garlant

Who Am I?

Can you solve the 10 'Who Am I' clues below, to work out the name of our mystery celebrity.


01 I was born in Newick, East Sussex.
02 I will be 44 in six days time.
03 My middle name is Stefan.
04 I studied journalism at Harlow College.
05 I worked at Lloyds of London.
06 I have worked for Kelvin MacKenzie.
07 I have also worked for Rupert Murdoch.
08 I presented a BBC series called 'Importance of Being Famous.'
09 I appeared in the Comic Relief version of 'The Apprentice.'
10 I co-hosted a current affairs programme for Channel4 with Amanda Platell.

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