Many years ago when County Cricket was still being played at Abbeydale in Sheffield, I went to a match one afternoon and in front of me, a pair of pigeons wandered around pecking happily at the outfield.
The bowler thundered in to make a poor, over-pitched delivery which Martin Moxon, Yorkshire Captain and England opener, drove through the covers for four.
En route, the ball fizzed across the pitch at bullet-like speed and took out the dopey pigeon on the right with a puff of feathers. Dead in a millisecond!
The ball was fielded and returned to the bowler. The pigeon's mate did not even fly away but, unconcerned, carried on pecking right alongside the corpse which was eventually moved.
The pigeon could not possibly have known that the chances of a second strike were millions to one against and so, its actions were idiotic.
I have not been able to get the surviving pigeon out of my mind this last fortnight seeing all the crowds and sardine-packed beaches from Brighton to Skegness, from Whitby and Blackpool to Bondi. From one pub to the next along West Street in the heart of the University student quarter in Sheffield - jam packed; heaving!
Covid 19? - Yer, what?
Good job places where such gatherings took place have been forcibly shut down!
Good job places where such gatherings took place have been forcibly shut down!
