Guest speaker, former England cricketer Ronnie Irani entertained Liverymen and guests to a hard hitting 'No boundaries' speech in his response on behalf of the guests at the December Court Lunch on Friday.
An air of excitement and expectation filled the Great Hall as Assistant Dave Richards set the scene for this, the last Court Lunch of the decade, amongst a full capacity audience.
Dave welcomed guests which included His Excellency the Ambassador of Uruguay Lopez Fabregat, Martin Shelton, Master of the Founders' Company, together with his Clerk, and William Alden, Clerk of the Stationers' Company.
Thanks was given to Hilton Food Solutions for their generous sponsorship of the New Zealand Silere Merino Rumps of Lamb, exclusively on sale at Ocado.
Turning to Mr Irani, Dave paid tribute to his England career in three Test Matches and 31 One Day Internationals and a first class record of 650 wickets, scoring over 20,000 runs.
Replying on behalf of the guests Mr Irani took care to build his innings with the amusing anecdotes from his cricketing career, including interludes with the great Sir Viv Richards, Wasim Akram, Darren Gough and David Lloyd, interspersed with the character forming background to his early life in Leigh and Bolton in Lancashire.
His father, Jimmy, a miner who went on to become a butcher, together with a respected mentor, Paul Syddall, were present at the lunch in Butchers’ Hall to hear their protege and revel in his success.
In concluding Mr Irani thanked the audience for their support in listening intently to the story of his career to date and wished them well for the coming festive season.
Another interesting and engaging Court Lunch seemingly enjoyed by all.