The five-man team, led by Dr Steve Collins of Clinton, Bucks, landed the most, as well as the heaviest, fish in a three-day tussle off the coast of Antibes, finishing well ahead of South Africa and Namibia in the 13-nation event Well done, chaps Tuna sandwiches all round. Exit LinesI have talked many times about the disparity in wages between what firemen, policemen and hospital doctors earn and what someone like me gets paid for a television job Surely it is time for some kind of adjustment. John McEnroe on his admiration for rescue workers in his native New York... Some of them have been treating the club like a social welfare office. Carlisle manager Roddy Collins, transfer-listing eight players... There's more ruddy football on tonight, Ipswich v Torpedo Moscow. Who cares about that? GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips, previewing the evening's television..

In the revived but urgent quest for one-day experience England embark this week for five internationals in Zimbabwe. It will be intriguing to discover if the trip is the difference between them winning and losing the World Cup in South Africa 18 months hence, though the probability is that it will fall under the usual heading of being too little too late. In the revived but urgent quest for one-day experience England embark this week for five internationals in Zimbabwe. It will be intriguing to discover if the trip is the difference between them winning and losing the World Cup in South Africa 18 months hence, though the probability is that it will fall under the usual heading of being too little too late. There is no doubt that England are desperately short of limited-overs experience, but that much was evident when they were embarrassing themselves in the World Cup in 1999. Not until this summer, with the next competition imminent, was the issue addressed. With everybody else otherwise engaged, Zimbabwe were welcome and welcoming hosts.The upshot is a brief tour, with an unusual team to a troubled country, which has been a nightmare to organise.

Final arrangements – accreditation for media, without whom nobody would know it was happening – were completed only last Thursday.Zimbabwe remains in a state of disarray. Illegal land- grabs from white farmers by war veterans are reportedly still taking place despite the so-called Abuja Accord. Under this agreement, president Robert Mugabe promised to ensure such actions stopped in return for £36 million compensation to be paid by the British government to farmers whose land is redistributed.Such conditions make the playing of cricket, or any other sport, slightly bizarre. The home team, however, are anxious for the visit, and the recent tour by West Indies and the current one by South Africa have passed off without problems, albeit before small crowds.Zimbabwe will undoubtedly fancy their chances against England, for whom the next three weeks will be the start of a new and steep learning curve.