SKY TV cricket commentator, interviewer and former England player Paul Allott gave a highly informative and entertaining talk to guests at a special sportsman’s’ dinner at the Skiddaw Hotel, Keswick.

Paul is well known for his work for Sky alongside the cricket commentary team regulars of Sir Ian “Beefy” Botham, Michael Vaughan, Nassar Hussain, David “Bumble” Lloyd, David Gower, Michael Atherton, Bob Willis and, the latest addition, another former England captain, Andrew Strauss.

Paul’s talk was extremely well received and although the highlight was probably the hilarious story he told of the day when, as as a tail end batsman he encountered one of the world’s fastest bowlers, Paul concluded his talk with a highly amusing poem aimed at the controversial figure of former England player Kevin Pietersen. Paul claimed that he was inspired to write the poem when he travelled through Grasmere to Keswick past the Dove Cottage home of William Wordsworth.

The audience of local cricket and sporting enthusiasts, many of them from Keswick Cricket Club, enjoyed the occasion immensely, with a  delicious 3 course meal in the Greta Suite and a raffle raising over £300 for the Great North Air Ambulance, who gave a brief presentation at the event on their work in the area. Raffle prizes were generously donated from Grapevine, The Herdy Company, The Pencil Museum, Keswick Mountain Bikes, Lake District Wildlife Park, Keswick Golf Club, The Borrowdale Hotel and not to mention a delicious Sunday Carvery for two at the Skiddaw Hotel.

PICTURE:
Pictured with guest speaker Paul Allott (centre) are (left to right) Andrew Bryson, Bill Robinson, Keith Richardson and Paul Hindmarch.
Photograph courtesy of Robert Rathbone.