Brian Viner

Brian Viner swapped London for the Herefordshire countryside, and his column ‘Country Life’ documents his attempts to chase the rural idyll. Chiefly a sports writer, he pens a weekly sports column and interview for the paper. He is the author of Ali, Pele, Lillee and Me: A Personal Odyssey Through the Sporting Seventies.

Brian Viner: 'Slight mistranslations can cause big problems on foreign exchanges'

Our friends Jane and James have just waved off their 13-year-old son Jack on the school French exchange trip. Jack is spending a week with a family near Grenoble, and later in the year the French child will come to Herefordshire. After a couple of days, Jane and James still hadn't heard from Jack, which they took to be a sign that everything was fine. After all, Jane knows that the French mum is a nurturing type because before Jack left she received an e-mail asking "what does it eat for its breakfast?" Wisely, Jane ascribed this to Madame's slightly shaky English, rather than any inclination to regard the teenage Anglais as inanimate or inhuman.

Recently by Brian Viner

Brian Viner: Never too old for a fight to the bitter end

Saturday, 6 February 2010

The Last Word

Brian Viner: 'Uneasy about the free brie and cranberry sandwich, I declined it'

Thursday, 4 February 2010

As a potential topic for The Moral Maze, or even the court of public opinion, my tangle with a ticket inspector on the train from Birmingham to Euston on Tuesday is not up there with Tony Blair's decision to take us to war, or even Fabio Capello's decision on whether or not to sack John Terry.

Brian Viner: Moral vigilantes the FA doesn't need

Tuesday, 2 February 2010

Terry's dalliance should not have a bearing on the England captaincy

Brian Viner: Bumble thinks outside the box about Strauss

Saturday, 30 January 2010

The Last Word

Brian Viner: 'The English compensate by being unequivocally, boldly kissy in emails'

Thursday, 28 January 2010

The casual social kiss has become the blight of a middle-class Englishman's life. Across the Channel they know precisely what to do, in fact they even have different rules depending on what region you're in, but here we continue to vacillate between the peck on one cheek and the peck on two, with the consequence that even close friends can end up performing an awkward little comedy of manners, with the bloke lurching forward for a second kiss just as the woman turns away to say hello to someone else, or vice versa.

Brian Viner: Poet of the pitch always wanted to be on the field

Saturday, 23 January 2010

The Last Word: 'I can think of nothing more uplifting than standing out there with your anthem being played, and you with your job to do'

Brian Viner: 'It's a weird experience watching actresses audition to be your wife'

Thursday, 21 January 2010

There are probably experiences weirder than sitting in a rehearsal room just off Tottenham Court Road watching actresses read for the part of your wife while the high-spirited singing of what sounds like a group of munchkins carries through from the room next door, but it was hard to think what they might be.

Brian Viner: Turning back clock to Borg’s five-star show is irresistible

Saturday, 16 January 2010

The Last Word

Brian Viner: Smoked in deepest Shropshire, butter for the royal slice of bread

Thursday, 14 January 2010

Our bedroom habits, revealed in this space a week ago, continue unabated and unashamed. I still keep my electric blanket turned up to gas-mark nine every night, and lie there gently sizzling while Jane reads recipes from Florence White's remarkable collection, Good Things In England.