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STOLEN TALENTS
“If a man has talent and can’t use it, he has failed.” Thomas Wolfe (American novelist) The last bars crashed out and suddenly the...
8 min read


THE HOLY TRINITY
The recent funeral of Denis Law, the last surviving member of what is known in Manchester United folklore as ‘The Holy Trinity’ – the...
6 min read

STIFF UPPER LIP
“Permission to let the bottom lip wobble, Sir.” (Nick Daffern) This is a long-standing joke between me and my old mate, Nick,...
7 min read


ONE CAP WONDERS
It is an extraordinary fact – one that I was ignorant of until now – that 10% of all England cricketers only played once for their...
6 min read

EMPIRE
My wife posed this question at breakfast recently. What is the difference between Putin annexing the Crimea and invading Ukraine, and the...
5 min read


FINGS AIN’T WOT THEY USED TO BE
Well, no, they never are and were never meant to be. “Life is like riding a bicycle,” Albert Einstein wrote to his son, “To keep your...
6 min read


IN LOCO PARENTIS
It was the current headmaster of Malvern College, Keith Metcalfe, I think, who said, “Andy Murtagh has all the best stories.” Well, I...
3 min read


BULLSHIT JOBS
Towards the end of my teaching career, I became increasingly aware of the dead hand of bureaucracy that was starting to strangle the life...
7 min read


POINTLESS TRAIN ANNOUNCEMENTS
The other day, I was persuaded to let the train take the strain and booked myself a day-return between Great Malvern and Paddington. I...
4 min read
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