Visit the a swift one site

Everywhere I look nowadays I see cars flying St Georges flags, houses with red and white flags displayed, grown men with red and white t shirts, and supermarkets with all sorts of England memorabilia for sale. Yes, its that time again. You will have to have been on a trip in the jungle or just woken from a long sleep to have avoided the hype. Then I stopped and thought. There is a lot going on for the first day of a test series against BanglaDesh. Am I missing something ?

It is not unusual for brewer to name beers after sporting events. Haven't seen one yet in praise of Lords or Kevin Petersen, or one even remotely connected with cricket in the recent past.(Yes, I know Mallinsons did one for David Shepherd, the umpire, and Leg Before) but since we last trounced the Aussies cricket seems to have passed the brewers by. Not even the success in the World Twenty20 seems to have rated a mention.


So why all the national fervour ? Maybe a look again at Tara's recent brews may give me an answer. Fabio Four seems to have some familiar faces on the pump clip, 44 Years Of Hurt rings a bell, but where does Rustenburg fit in ? After speaking to those in the know, they tell me the Football World Cup is only a couple of weeks away. They are all world cup beers, (Rustenburg is the stadium where the mighty England play their first game). Now this has been explained, I expect to overwhelmed by 'new' beers with World Cup themes, and this is even before the lads have kicked a ball in anger. Who knows what will happen if we finally go on to lift the trophy ?


Don't get me wrong. I am as much a lover of 'the beautiful game' as the next man, unless the next man is Dennis, but even I get fed up of the hype the tournament engenders in the English nation. So for me, it will be the sound of Test Match Special, the sweet sound of leather hitting willow, and the hope that my England team will go on to success as well this summer over BanglaDesh and Pakistan. Maybe some brewer will brew a beer to celibrate this success, I certainly hope so.







More...