Ordinary Gweilo

England seem to be heading for defeat in the Third Test in Colombo, and athough there is still the possibility of another rearguard action to save the game, the Daily Telegraph’s cricket correspondent came up with a novel excuse for their poor performance:

Another excuse occurred on Friday night. A party on the front lawn of the team hotel on the sea-front – take note of the name Taj Samudra if you do not want a good night’s sleep in Colombo – kept window-rattling music going until after three o’clock on Saturday morning.

I have stayed in the Taj Samudra, and when I was there it was very quiet and peaceful. It’s a pleasant enough hotel with large rooms and a slightly ‘colonial’ atmosphere, though when I was there (6 years ago) it looked a little past its best. Certainly preferable to the much more anonymous Hilton nearby.