Review

Tucked away in the central yet quiet streets between Parkers Piece and the Grafton Centre, The Cricketers pub stays true its name. There are photos of local cricket teams and pictures of cricketers from throughout the history of the sport hung on the walls (including photos of the Ashes Teams from 1889, no mention of the Ashes 2006 are to be found for obvious reasons). Even the landlady has started playing for one of the local ladies teams.

The pub is large with three different areas and a back

The burger was everything we hope for from a pub burger

garden open during summer. The front room is equipped with pool table, arcade machines, small tables and raised bar stools. The remaining areas feel more civilised. The room leading out to the garden stocks a number of tables and is the official non-smoking dining area.

The place is littered with TVs, indicating that the pub's busiest nights are sports nights. Helpfully they have two different circuits so different sets can show different channels. There is also a projector and screen that drops down for the big events.

The lunchtime food menu is good solid pub grub affair, sandwiches on a choice of breads and burgers. When we went in one lunchtime they were out of stock of the first item we ordered, chicken burgers, so we went with the quarter pounder (no mayo) with chips. We asked about desserts but none were available so made do with the one course. There are machines serving packets of Minstrels to satisfy a post-meal sweet tooth.

The Greene King has a big bar with a good range of drinks on offer. Nothing exceptional for the connoisseur, but no major omissions in the line-up.

The landlady came over with cutlery and sauces to where we sat and a few minutes later bought over the food. The burger was everything we hope for from a pub burger: the request for no mayo had been met, the salad was fresh, the meat was good, the bread wasn't stale and the chips were nice and chunky.

As well as TV sport for entertainment, The Cricketers also hostd regular live bands, usually of the jazz variety. Overall this is pub is a nice find, close to town but far removed from the hustle and bustle of the shopping areas. It has a relaxed atmosphere with friendly staff in quiet moments, though we can imagine it hard to get so much attention on sports nights.