Harry Gurney on poker, Mr Bean and becoming a T20 great

This story was originally due to be told in a different world.

It was a time when the impact of Covid-19 was a threat, rather than a reality. When leaving the house was a luxury taken for granted. When queuing to get into a shop only happened in the early hours of Boxing Day. Pubs were still open.

In this particular pub, just outside Melton Mowbray, one of the owners is sitting under the window, tapping away on a laptop.

He also happens to be one of Twenty20 cricket's leading bowlers of the past 18 months. His business partner is second on the list of England's all-time Test wicket-takers.

In the ensuing conversation with Harry Gurney, his intelligence, thoughtfulness and assuredness mean it is no surprise when, shortly after social distancing measures are introduced, the Tap and Run is turned into a takeaway and village shop not only to serve the community, but also in an attempt to protect the jobs of its staff.

That, though, is for the future. We start in the past, and how Gurney, Nottinghamshire team-mate Stuart Broad and their friend Dan Cramp came to own this gastropub and its forerunner, the Three Crowns.

"The Three Crowns became available and I had the crazy idea of taking it on," says Gurney. "Dan was running the Larwood & Voce at Trent Bridge at the time, and I asked him to come for a pint to discuss what he thought about the prospect of it.

"Dan and Broady had often talked about doing a pub together, so we went round to Broady's house with a proposal. Within 24 hours, he was on board."

Gurney, a 33-year-old left-arm seamer, describes himself as "very hands on" and chairs meetings of the management team every Monday morning.

When he's unavailable - franchise cricket has taken him to Australia, India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean in the past year or so - his wife takes charge.

And Broad? "The only time Broady pulls pints is when we have photographers in here and they ask him to do it," says Gurney. "He's useless. It's always got a massive head on it. He's OK at pouring a glass of red. What he is good at is sitting, eating and drinking.

"But, like I have, he's put his hand in his pocket to invest. People come in here saying 'Is Stuart here? This is his pub, isn't it">