The Cricketers has gained a countrywide reputation, largely because it’s run by Trevor and Sally Oliver – proud parents of pukka boy Jamie. As you’d expect, the place is generally full to bursting with people wanting to know if the lad learned it all from his old folks. The food tips its hat to the boy wonder, and all the tell-tale signs are there, from the Amalfi olives, charcuterie boards, home-baked breads and pizzas (from the wood-fired oven) to funky salads and freshly made pasta (curly pappardelle with roasted peppers, toasted pine nuts and artichoke pesto, say). Elsewhere, the kitchen delivers a decent version of veal milanese with spaghetti, plus char-grilled dry-aged steaks, pies with mash, and more flashy ideas such as pork loin and slow-roast belly with maple jus, roasted sweet potato, and rhubarb chutney. There are “beers for the boys and wines for the girls”, prices are fair and the whole place has a “relaxed pub feel” – just beware the head-cracking beams in this 16th-century free house-with-rooms.