Cricket fans put Lord Protector on TV

ENGLAND S progress in the cricket world cup in the Caribbean may be a bit patchy, but a little bit of Huntingdon has been in evidence in the television coverage. Parading a St George s flag emblazoned with the legend The Lord Protector, Huntingdon was t

ENGLAND'S progress in the cricket world cup in the Caribbean may be a bit patchy, but a little bit of Huntingdon has been in evidence in the television coverage.

Parading a St George's flag emblazoned with the legend "The Lord Protector, Huntingdon" was the culmination of a four-year dream for two of the Oxmoor pub's regulars.

Electrician Mike Parsons and builder Mattie Hayward have been saving for three or four years for the seven-week one-day spectacular, said Lord Protector Licensee Garry Jolly.

"I had the flag made up for the Euro 2004 football finals, but it was a bit lost among all the others in the stadium then.

"Mike and Mattie asked to borrow it for the cricket, and I keep looking for it on the large-screen television in the bar but I haven't seen it yet," he told The Hunts Post.

But eagle-eyed reader Richard Meredith, secretary of Huntingdon and Godmanchester Civic Society, spotted it during Sunday's Ireland-Bangladesh match. Perhaps luckily for Mike and Mattie, Ireland won convincingly.

"They probably wound a few Irish fans up. They probably forgot about Oliver Cromwell's reputation in Ireland," Garry added. "I wonder if some of the Irish supporters pointed it out to them. They are there for the whole competition, and I believe they have tickets for the final, so perhaps we'll see it again there."

n Monday was a particularly poignant day for Garry - the first anniversary of the death of his mother, Edna Betts, who ran the pub for years before he took over.