AS this is a sports column I apologise for straying from the beaten track on to the subject of a politician and his avowed love of walking in the Dales.

William Hague, MP for Richmond, apparently thinks Wensleydale is the finest place in England.

If he were a true dales walker he would know that Wensleydale pales alongside Teesdale, is very tame compared with Weardale and positively cannot hold a candle to either Swaledale or Upper Wharfedale.

Still, what can we expect from a man who drinks 14 pints a day!

As it's the season of goodwill I'll let him into a little secret. He should leave Wensleydale via Bishopdale, admiring the ever-improving scenery, and park just over the summit on the drop into Wharfedale outside the wonderful White Lion at Cray.

There he could have his first four pints before walking down to the gorgeous George at Hubberholme for a further four. Then a riverside stroll for four more at the Buck at Buckden followed by the climb back up to Cray for the final two. After that he should be able to see Wensleydale in duplicate on his way home.

GARY Lineker must have had to have his tongue surgically removed from his cheek after Match of the Day on Saturday.

"It's always a pleasure to hear from Sir Alex," he said after the Manchester United manager decided he would deign to start speaking to the BBC again.

Ferguson, as usual, actually said nothing of the remotest interest, although he was gracious enough to give Charlton credit for their fightback from 3-1 down.

Equal credit should go to Alan Hansen and Trevor Brooking for allowing themselves no more than a smirk at Lineker's remark.

The most interesting observation Sir Alex has made recently was to the Tyne-Tees cameras after the Worthington Cup defeat at Sunderland.

He seemed to suggest that Dwight Yorke is a nice lad and the referee should have taken that into account before sending him off for his absolutely appalling two-footed lunge at Emerson Thome.

With the exception of a few Scousers, Irishmen and Bobby Robson, the characters in football are a million miles from the cloistered confines of the Premiership, inhabiting the real world at places like Morecambe and Canvey Island.

There was Bullseye host Jim Bowen talking about brown envelopes for the referee and his assistants before Morecambe's FA Cup win against Cambridge, while no-one at Canvey Island did anything to play down the description of their tie against Southend as the "jellied-eel derby."

A crowd of 11,400 for the Gulls against the Shrimpers on a pitch from which the tide had barely receded proved the romance of the FA Cup lives on, even if Fergie's boys have apparently already booked their accommodation for the final.

IF you expect me to eat humble pie on the subject of Graeme Hick following England's incredible win in Karachi you are sadly mistaken.

In what had become a one-day situation where he was under no pressure to build a big innings, Hick made a very valuable contribution of 40.

With dusk descending he then got out at a very inappropriate time, leaving the much more admirable Graham Thorpe to see the job through.

At least Hick's departure allowed Nasser Hussain to share in the triumph from the middle, and while it would have been difficult to imagine Colin Cowdrey behaving in such dervish-like fashion when the winning runs were scored, Hussain was entitled to his unrestrained joy.

He has been on the wrong end of far more than his fair share of poor decisions this year, and has been the model of restraint in Pakistan, where Mike Gatting's indiscretions 13 years ago were not forgotten.

The pleasure of victory must have compensated a thousand-fold for Hussain's earlier misfortunes.

How sad that Cowdrey was not alive to see it. He probably would not have punched the air, but that famous smile would doubtless have spread from ear to ear.

The amazing thing about the triumph is that it was achieved on the back of four players - Atherton, Thorpe, White and Giles - performing superbly.

There was useful help from Darren Gough and Hussain's captaincy played a big part, but the rest ranged from satisfactory (Trescothick) to embarrassing (Salisbury).

Neither Salisbury nor Robert Croft are going to bridge the gulf from good county bowler to Test class, so it be would be better to revert to Chris Schofield for Sri Lanka or try Jason Brown, the Northamptonshire off-spinner who did so well last summer.

And hopefully Michael Vaughan will be fit to take over from Hick