New 'Old School' Australian cricket coach Darren Lehmann won't have to look too far into the past to find the key to upsetting England in the Ashes which starts on Wednesday. In 1989, Opening batsman David Boon (pictured above playing for Durham) was outstanding as the underdogs Australia thrashed England 4-0, averaging 55 per innings. However, that wasn't his biggest achievement of the tour which came on the flight from Sydney-to-London. Boon reportedly drank an incredible 52 cans of beer on the plane which broke the previous record of 44 set by Rod Marsh and Doug Walters.
Presumably these were the mini-cans usually associated with soft American drinkers but still it is a record worthy of respect. The man himself has said that reports of the record were "a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale" but his teammates remember it differently. Fellow batsman Dean Jones claims to have seen Boon down 22 beers by the time they had passed through Singapore and fell asleep before waking to the sound of loud applause and the announcement from the plane’s captain that Boon had reached 52.
Boon, who partly because of this feat and his handlebar moustache became a 'cult hero' to Australian cricket fans, impressively managed to walk off the plane without help unlike the previous joint record-holder. Rodney Marsh was so comatose after downing his 44 that team-mates Dennis Lillee and Graeme Wood loaded him up on to a luggage trolley and wheeled him through customs.
