Читать книгу Classic After-Dinner Sports Tales - Jonathan Rice - Страница 15

Perhaps England’s greatest all-round cricketer of all time, Ian Botham is best remembered for his amazing displays in 1981, when his batting and bowling transformed lost causes and brought the Ashes back home. Since his retirement, Botham has raised millions for charity by his marathon walks.

I have many great memories of touring with the England team during my cricket career, and numerous stories to tell about my room-mates! However, one man stands out in particular – Derek Randall, or Arkle as he is known to his fellow players and friends.

On returning to his hotel room in Adelaide, following a day in the field, he decided to run a bath. Having turned the water on, he remembered that he needed to pass on a message to Messrs. I.T. Botham and A.J. Lamb. He quickly wrapped a towel around his body and slipped across the corridor to their room. We opened the door to Arkle, invited him in for a drink (a cup of Earl Grey, of course) and spent a while chatting. On leaving the room, he realised that he had left his key inside his room. Unlike most people, instead of asking either Lamby or myself to ring down to reception, he decided to go down himself.

At the Adelaide Hilton that night, there was a rather special function, with people from all over Australia arriving dressed in DJs – the works. As the towel-clad Arkle arrived at the reception desk, there was utter chaos, with people running hell for leather out of the dining room, some soaking wet.

While asking the very flustered receptionist if he could have another key for his room, he also enquired what the problem was.

‘Some stupid **** has left their bath water running and flooded the dining area!’

No need to ask who, as she handed over the replacement key to a slightly under-dressed Mr. Randall!