Test star Alec Stewart really knew his stuff
Test star Alec Stewart pulls in the punters and really knows his stuff
Charles Campion reflects on the recent Young's Q&A
THE first in our series of Young's Know Your Stuff evenings was held at the Lamb in Leadenhall Market, where the lucky guests enjoyed a tasting of three Young's bitters and a question-and-answer session with Alec Stewart OBE, who is not only England's most capped test cricketer of all time but also the second most capped player in one-day internationals.
The fact that two days previously England had won their first world trophy, beating Australia in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup, was merely the icing on the cake.
The evening started well as the ebullient beer writer, Melissa Cole, took us through a tasting and discussed the differences between three Young's cask ales — Bitter, London Gold and Special Bitter. The appreciative audience, some of whom admitted hitherto they were not cask ale fanatics, were quick to take on board the vocabulary of tasting and to enjoy the beers which were in excellent condition.
The conversation then turned to cricket and one hot topic was the large number of imported players in the England side (Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, and Kevin Pietersen having just excelled in the Caribbean sunshine). Stewart's view was warmly applauded.
He spoke emotionally of the honour of wearing the England shirt and of playing for his country; he felt that if a player had already represented another country — for example if they had played for South Africa at under-19 level — switching allegiance could never be the honourable option.
Interestingly he would make allowances for anyone born abroad but whose parents had moved to the UK while they were at school.
For Stewart that was "something that was out of the player's control".
Questions came thick and fast from an audience who obviously knew their stuff when it came to cricket.
What about the Indian Premier League? Stewart wished them well but wouldn't speculate on how much he would have fetched at auction!
Who was the untidiest player he ever roomed with? Jack Russell, by a long way. Should cricket be shown on Sky or terrestrial TV? Stewart pointed out that Sky money funded the grass roots of the game — a great benefit.
His openness and honesty delighted the audience and when proceedings were wound up many stayed on for another pint of Young's.
This was a splendid evening with one of cricket's greatest ambassadors and made a great start to the Young's and Evening Standard series.
Read more reflections on the recent Know Your Stuff events here:
