Millions won’t
be enough for
ugly ground

From: Mark Pennington, Horsforth, Leeds.

I LIVE near Leeds and enjoy cricket, so why have I not attended a Headingley Test for many years?

There are two things which make me reluctant. One is Headingley’s reputation as a venue for a booze-up. This peaked in the year that they took out rows of seats on the Western Terrace to make it easier for the stewards to eject people!

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I haven’t been in the ground since. Such a dreadful reputation takes a lot of shaking off. But there is not much shaking happening: careful research indicates that you can no longer take your own cans in, but one assumes the bars still do a roaring trade.

Secondly, it is not a pretty ground. There used at least to be trees down the North East side, but these were cut down long ago, ironically in favour of more seating.

I don’t know what facilities the management have in mind in their multi-million pound plans, nor what facilities I need to watch cricket, but I do know an attractive venue when I see one, and I don’t see one at Headingley.

Don’t blame
young lions

From: Brian H Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

YOUR Editorial was uncharacteristically erratic in ascribing England’s early exit from the World Cup finals to the “tactical error” of putting “youth before experience“ (The Yorkshire Post, June 21).

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The only positives from the disappointing results were the brave and enterprising displays from the youngsters. It was the experienced players, the admirable Wayne Rooney excepted, who played so poorly, especially Steven Gerrard.

Other factors were the selection of two full-backs who, by common consent, can’t defend and the lack of a central defender of the quality of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry.

From: Harry Wetherell, Carlton-in-Cleveland, Middlesbrough.

NOW that the England football team have some time on their hands, could we persuade Gareth Malone to teach them how to sing? I fear that until we get 11 players who can sing theNational Anthem with pride and passion we will never have a team to be proud of.

HS3? Why
stop there

From: Annie Painter, Spring Lane, Crofton, Wakefield.

what a great idea an HS3 is (The Yorkshire Post, June 23) but what about all the other places that haven’t got a speedy train, like Whitby or Windermere? I think they should build a massive stilted track everywhere; crossing the moors, onwards over the mountains, through the lakes and woods, everywhere, then all can share in the wonderment of modern progress. Imagine: HS4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11... what joy.

From: Ron Firth Woodgarth Court, Campsall, Doncaster.

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It is interesting to read that the Government is thinking about HS3 linking Manchester to Leeds to follow on from HS2.

There would appear to be two obvious faults in their thinking here: HS2 is not vital to the economy of Northern England, HS3 is. HS3 should run from the busy port of Liverpool, through Manchester and Leeds to the increasingly busy port of Hull and all of the region’s MPs, councillors and industrialists should insist that this priority is accepted and implemented by Westminster.

From: Robert Craig, Priory Road, Weston-super-Mare.

before the Government presses ahead with HS2, there needs to be a study made into whether HS2 or HS3 (the high-speed rail link across the North announced by the Government) will deliver the most immediate benefits for the North. It could well be best to build HS3 before starting on HS2.

Time we had
national force

From: John Fisher, Menwith Hill, Harrogate.

THE recent debacle when the Surrey Police were unable to complete a new computer programme at a huge cost to the public further demonstrates the need for a national police force.

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It would be interesting to see how many nations still use our Victorian locally-based system of policing in a world where technical innovation is improving not only national but worldwide communication.

Perhaps one of the reasons our Members of Parliament are so opposed to Scottish independence is the thought of a successful national police force in Scotland. Meanwhile we will continue to watch our politicians desperately reinventing the wheel whilst the national barrow slowly rots away.

From: M J Thompson, Goodison Boulevard, Doncaster.

ON the subject of South Yorkshire Police feeling the strain with funding cuts, I was recently coming out of my local Asda supermarket when I was asked to leave from another exit.

On doing so, I observed a young man being pinned to the ground by one of the store’s security guards. On leaving, I saw no fewer than four separate police cars entering the store’s car park. It took just one Asda employee to subdue the alleged culprit but it takes at least four police officers to make an arrest.