A VENUE that plays sport ‘from the minute it’s open to the minute it’s closed’ is Pub of The Week.

Located in the heart of Wimborne, The Cricketers Arms has been described as ‘unashamedly sporty.’

Carl Filer has worked as the general manager at the pub for more than two years.

He said: “We don’t try to hide the fact that we’re a sports pub.

“We’ve got sports memorabilia all over the walls even to the point that our food offering is sporty.”

The Cricketers Arms has been selected as a finalist at the 2024 Great British Pub Awards, and its category (unsurprisingly) is ‘best pub to watch sports in.’

Carl said: “We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last year and are very proud to see our efforts recognised.

“We would like to say a big well done to our team for getting our pub this far.

“Thank you so much to all our regular punters for your invaluable support, and we hope we will be bringing home a winner’s trophy to decorate our pub with this year.”

The pub is now one of six in the country, up for the chance of taking home the title, which will be announced live at the awards ceremony, which will be held in Manchester on September 17.

“To win would be absolutely unbelievable, we would be over the moon,” Carl added.

With the return of the Euros, The Cricketers has seen a boom in businesses, with customers flocking to the pub to watch England on one of its five screens.  

At the beginning of this year, the pub was renovated and decorated with hand-painted murals.

Carl said: “We have a really lovely painting of the old cricketers on the wall from the 1900s painted from where the Waitrose is now.

“We have quotes from a couple of famous cricketers on the wall. On the other walls, I have a mural depicting England winning the World Cup for football and rugby.

“We painted sports hero’s from football, rugby, cricket and golf, but we left their faces blank so people can decide whoever they want their hero to be.”