Talk of the Town: Lady Boys to show off their googlies

For the tenth successive year the troupe will be performing at the Fringe but this time round it appears they are keen to fit in some cricket between shows.

The Lady Boys have been taking lessons at a club in Cheshire and Akkarapol Khon Kaen, 29, says: "I thought it was a bit like baseball but I found out that I was wrong.

"I had no idea that the ball was so hard. It's really dangerous."

The Lady Boys are in the Capital from 6-28 August.

Andy is carted away after his rugby run-in

SCOTLAND'S rugby trip to Wales last season will be recalled for many reasons; a career-ending injury to Thom Evans and Chris Paterson's 100th cap ending in agonising fashion when he retired hurt with what proved to be a split kidney are just two of them.

In the valleys the match is probably best remembered for what happened later, with Welsh forward Andy Powell apprehended in charge of a golf buggy in the wee small hours at junction 33 of the M4 motorway after going on the hunt for a bacon roll.

Which makes Cardiff rugby club's remarks on releasing Powell from his contract all the more appropriate: "Last season has been a difficult one for Andy following the unwise incident with the golf buggy ... and he has lost his way somewhat," said coach Dai Young.

Banging on about hobbies

EDINBURGH residents are used to it topping all manner of charts, most of them to do with having the best quality of life, happiest residents, and so on.

So Talk of the Town was excited to hear that a survey has placed the Capital in the top five of the UK's most liberated cities.

On closer examination, however, it appears that sausage company Walls, which carried out the research, is not talking about free love, but about being "liberated and open" when it comes to talking about our hobbies.

Indeed, 96 per cent of people in Edinburgh have a passion or hobby, ranging from stamp collecting to knitting. Crazy.

Appeal with a point

TALKING of hobbies, a soldier from the Capital and his colleagues sent out an SOS after finding themselves in short supply of a certain kind of projectile.

Lance Bombardier Barry Galbraith from Edinburgh and the troops of the 4th Regiment, Royal Artillery, had to put the call out after running out of darts at their base at Camp Bastion.

The dart-loving troops contacted arrows specialist Rileys who answered the emergency using the Forces Welfare Packages service.