Franchise Fiasco

Starting a new spell up the hill

There were red faces at go-ahead Edinburgh cricket club Carlton yesterday as they announced that the bidding process for the prestigious franchise to bowl up the hill against the wind at Grange Loan would be restarted.

The franchise had been held for many years by Fantasy Bob but earlier this year it was awarded to an alternative provider following a tender competition.

Fantasy Bob immediately challenged the result saying that his bid had been wrongly evaluated since inadequate account was taken of the empire biscuits he brought for tea every week.

Following an investigation by the club, officials have acknowledged that mistakes were made. A spokesman said, 'We found a number of additional empire biscuits behind the tea urn.'

Fantasy Bob welcomed the decision and said he was confident that he could continue to operate the franchise for many years.

Richard Branson also welcomed the decision, but also observed that Fantasy Bob couldn't run a railway even if he tried.