Wansteadium

There was more to the story about Wanstead (and Essex) cricketer Robin Das making his England debut at Lord’s last week. Robin is the first cricketer of Bangladeshi heritage to play for England – he tells BBC Essex here:

It means a lot personally – I feel like I have made some of my family not just here but also back in Bangladesh really proud… it’s a very good feeling. I hope that I’m definitely not the last and that there will be more to come.

"I hope there'll be more in the future from the Bangladeshi community."@EssexCricket's Robin Das became the first man of Bangladeshi heritage to represent England when he came on as twelfth man in the first Test v New Zealand.

More 👉 https://t.co/kbiXDgLCwZ pic.twitter.com/Do7iaUH4iy

— BBC Essex Sport (@BBCEssexSport) June 10, 2022

Wanstead High Street is to get a new wine bar in the site where Coco has been for a number of years.

The new wine bar will be a branch of Must Wine, which has bars in St Albans and Hampstead. If Wanstead’s is like the others, it will be offering food and wine – the menu, which includes a pretty sophisticated range of food to eat alongside a glass is available here.

We must say that we think this looks like a pretty impressive addition to that end of the High Street. At the Snaresbrook end, Daygustation is doing something similar and making the most of pavement cafe lifestyle. It’s all part of the apparent ongoing transition of Wanstead into a place for bars, restaurants and cafes.

Good luck to them on their new venture.

This year’s Wanstead Fringe is taking place between 10 and 25 September, and once again is gearing up to be the cultural event of the year for this beautiful little bit of our city.

If you fancy running an event, or have an idea, this is your chance to get in on the planning. Or if you’re interested in volunteering we want to hear from you too. Fill in your details on this Google Form and organisers will be in touch.

This has appeared on the pavement opposite the Co-op. We don’t, at the time of writing, have any idea what it is about. Anyone with the right intelligence, please do let us know. (Thanks to Magali for the pic.)

The new regime on Nightingale Lane, which makes the ancient road one-way from the High Street to Wellesley Road, is now in force. Not everyone seems to have noticed yet, with reports of drivers apparently not noticing the new rules.

The reason for the rule is understandable – it’s long been too congested for two-way traffic. But we can’t help wondering if there might be some unintended consequences coming up in the next few weeks and months.

For instance, with no fear of oncoming traffic, drivers may well feel more free to speed down the first part of the road, which is usually busy with pedestrians. Watch this space.

This moment from the BBC’s Test Match Special was when Wanstead Cricket Club’s 20-year-old batsman Robin Das (pictured below) had his England debut, playing as a substitute in the Lord’s Test against New Zealand. Congratulations to him and the Das family.