A Warwickshire town kicked off its ancient Shrove Tuesday ball game following a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 822nd Atherstone Ball Game involved hundreds of people competing on the streets for ownership of a heavy, leather ball. Rob Bernard, chairman of the organising committee, said. ‘We are absolutely delighted that it is back on now.’ The winner is the person who has the ball at 17:00 GMT. This year’s winner said it had been easy to hold on to the ball at the end - as he hid it under his T-shirt. ‘It had popped and then I quickly took it and put it under my T-shirt and me and my friend were just in a deep hug,’ he said. People were ‘extremely excited’ about the return of the game, which has international attention.