Early Test finish benefits homeless charity

AFP LONDON England's defeat of India inside three days in the fourth Test at Manchester's Old Trafford may not have been good news for ground authorities who lost out on two days' worth of takings and it certainly wasn't good for the tourists. But England's win, which put the hosts 2-1 up in the five-match series, did have one unexpected spin-off. Lancashire County Cricket Club, the owners of Old Trafford, were able to use sandwiches, initially ordered to feed all the staff and volunteers on the fourth and fifth days of the Test to provide support to local homeless people. Rather than seeing the food go to waste, the club donated the sandwiches to Narrowgate Emergency Accommodation in the hope of "making a small difference" to the homeless people of the Salford area of Manchester this week. Martin Crowhurst, project manager for Narrowgate Emergency Accommodation, based in Salford, said: "Monday was a wet and miserable day, so it was great to welcome in our homeless guests to a feast of sandwiches supplied by Lancashire County Cricket Club through the LCCC Foundation. We served them up with hot soup and were able to offer more as a takeaway service for the next day. This was especially significant as some daytime drop-in centres for the homeless are currently on summer shut downs. That night we were also overbooked, which meant we had to turn some people away, but, we could at least send them away with sandwiches."