YP Letters: Four-day junket in the sun simply isn't cricket

Should Jonny Bairstow be preparing for the new cricket season?

IT was interesting to see a photo (The Yorkshire Post, March 21) of a somewhat dishevelled group, including the leader of Leeds Council together with the respective chief executives of Leeds and Bradford Councils, obviously enjoying themselves at a junket in Cannes in the south of France.

The four-day midweek event is organised by a body known as MIPIM which “gathers the most influential property players for four days of networking, learning and transaction” so it was gratifying to know that our civic leaders had managed to juggle their busy diaries to be able to fly to the south of France for a week at this time of year as part of the “Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership”.

It was puzzling however to see the cricketer Jonathan Bairstow grinning away at the back of the group.

I assume this was some  sort of paid “gig” for him, but knowing how tiring these events can be (especially in the evenings!) I wonder if this is the best way for a current international cricketer to be spending his time, especially just before the start of the domestic season?