AMBLING through the city, on the lookout for somewhere to have lunch, Pub Spy chanced upon The Cricketers, enticed by a sign that promised ‘live sport here’.

Marketed as a traditional country pub, but sitting right in the city centre, The Cricketers is located on Angel Street, next door to McDonald’s and across the road from Shakeey’s.

Despite it being a small venue, it was full of people eating, and, with it being St Patrick’s Day, I ordered a Guinness and settled next to a screen showing some football.

An FA Cup quarter final clash between Swansea City and Tottenham Hotspur at the Liberty Stadium – at that point, already 2-0 to the latter.

And, as Spurs toyed with the Swans, I toyed with a menu which included Chicken Balti, Beef Lasagne and Gammon, egg and chips.

In the end, I went for the Home Beer Battered Cod, made, according to the menu, with fine cask ale and served with chunky chips, mushy peas, tartare sauce and a lemon wedge.

Pub Spy had missed out on his annual VIP suite at Cheltenham Races this year, with horses and dirty gambling money appearing to be much of the chatter on the street that day.

But he had been invited the previous evening for a meal out with the Worcester News team – and was feeling spoiled as he said in the Cricketers, by himself.

Despite it being bitterly cold outside, the sun was high and bright and shone fiercely through the pub windows behind me – making it a struggle to get any photos that didn’t look like I was eating in the dark.

Luckily, the match was being projected on a screen, so there was no glare there.

As I waited for my food, a gang of rowdy Irishmen and women entered the pub, all in green, and were ordering Guinness and whiskey aplenty as they pub crawled in preparation for the Six Nations match.

A horn was sounded from time to time, much to the bemusement of an elderly couple next to me, from London, who were concentrating on the match.

Having eavesdropped on most of their conversation, I learnt they had been bra shopping that morning. Christian Eriksen had just scored a tasty third for Spurs – his second of the game.

The fish arrived, large and crispy, and I applied the vinegar and ketchup. The staff were very cheery and helpful, despite how busy it had got.

The meal was filling and very much what you’d expect from a country pub – so fair play to whoever provided the copy on the website.

In fact, it was so filling I couldn’t finish all the chips – and, having become completely lethargic, I watched the last few minutes of the game before heading back out into the cold.

The Cricketers is certainly a pub that I’ve passed before, usually drunk, and heading to its neighbours – McDonald’s and Shakeey’s – and in some ways it’s easily missed, even when sober.

But definitely worth a visit – ales, traditional pub food, live sport – and, on St Patrick’s Day, a few rowdy Irish. What more do you want?