MANAGERS from a pub in Rossett met an international cricket hero on the way to winning a national award for the quality of the wine they serve.

Manager of The Alyn Riverside country pub, Gareth Higgins and bar manager Ashley Marsden, met England Ashes ace, Matthew Hoggard, at the Marston’s pub company awards at Alton Towers.

The Alyn Riverside country pub was named Wine Retailer of the Year at the ceremony from more than 1,700 Marston’s pubs across England and Wales. Judges were impressed by The Alyn’s ‘carefully considered wine offering, which includes food and wine matching advice and their creativeness in bringing wine alive by thinking outside the box’.

Gareth Higgins said: “It was great meeting Matthew Hoggard. Apparently he enjoys chips and Twix (not together) and Marston’s Resolution beer.”

Alex and Andrew Smeaton are owners of The Alyn Riverside country pub. They added: “We were absolutely delighted to win the award.It is really satisfying to see all our hard work recognised by Marston’s, which will motivate us to keep delivering the highest standards in our pub. We have lots of offers on over Christmas and look forward to a busy Christmas period.

The managing director of Marston’s Pub Company, Stephen Oliver, said: “We run this competition because we want to encourage licensees to strive for higher standards. ‘’