A HAPPY RELEASE

There`s a great deal of fuss today about the fact that followers of the England football team will be unable to watch their team perform on television this evening against Croatia in Zagreb. Diehard supporters are up in arms about it, MPs are grumbling and it wouldn`t surprise me if there are not questions in the House when Parliament resumes after its `summer break` in....October?

Unless you are one of the three million subscribers to Setanta Sports TV, you will sadly be denied the chance to see your heroes in action (maybe that should be `inaction.`) As for me, I would like to thank Setanta for providing such a happy release from what promises to be yet another instantly forgettable `performance` by the overpaid poseurs who can be bothered to wear the three lions. Instead, I will look forward to the next episode of `Lost in Austen,` for which I am truly grateful.