LEE PAYNE
An aspiring writer on sport, music, history and more
recent posts
- If you’re going to win an Ashes Test, you need to get more than 200 on the board
- England are once again the laughing stock of world cricket
- Something made me laugh at Lincoln Cathedral
- AI vs Human Writing
- Lincoln’s Steep Hill is aptly named, Southwell is proud of its apples and Boston is a bit rough – my July 2024 holiday (part 2!)
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The slightly prententious title to this week’s piece is not me trying to come across all earnest – it’s actually a lyric from the Arctic Monkeys song Anyways (which you can listen to below). I’ll be honest, I have been finding things a bit difficult recently. My anxiety remains, thankfully, at arm’s length but it…
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Happy new year. Or is it? This week, I want to talk about the Blackpool Tower ‘fire’, darts star Luke Littler and a book I recommend.
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My latest musings on Norwich City Football Club are in today’s Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News. You can read it online here. I know I’ve posted this rather late to encourage you to buy a paper, but in further I’d urge you to consider it – local papers are really important and they…
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The events of the last week will, I think, prove to be a watershed moment for Norwich City Football Club. The displeasure and the disconnect felt by the fans was not only about the club’s repeated inability to put up a fight in the Premier League. It was deeper than that. We felt like we…
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Merry Christmas! All the signs point to these being bleak times: a lot of us can’t afford to put the heating on, Covid is still refusing to go away – like a double glazing salesman who won’t take no for an answer – and Sky News has a permanent graphic in the top corner of…
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Friday 21st October. A package lands on the doormat. Could it be? The previous day’s postal workers’ strike had put doubt in my mind. It was the right size and shape. All the signs were good. I opened it. YES! It is! The new Arctic Monkeys album! Yes, I know I could get it on…
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England vs New Zealand3rd Test (of 3)Headingley, Leeds23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th June 2022Result: England (360 & 296-3) beat New Zealand (329 & 326) by 7 wicketsEngland win the series 3-0 It was only innate English pessimism that put any doubt in the ability of our re-energised Test team to knock off the 113 runs…
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England vs New Zealand2nd Test (of 3)Trent Bridge, Nottingham10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th June 2022Result: England (539 & 299-5) beat New Zealand (553 & 284) by 5 wickets Sport is my strongest passion. My life is essentially a continuous festival of sport, and football and cricket are the headline acts. I love them both, but…
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England vs New Zealand1st Test (of 3)Lord’s, London2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th June 2022Result: England (141 & 279-5) beat New Zealand (132 & 285) by 5 wickets I’ve looked it up. There were 281 days between England’s men completing an innings victory over India at Headingley on 28th August last year and scoring the winning runs…
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I love music. I love all kinds of music. It doesn’t have to be a certain genre or style, it just has to make me feel something. One of my favourite bands is Blossoms, who I was delighted to discover when they were heavily promoted by Radio X (formerly XFM) in 2016. The five piece…