BF2S Forums AU 2: Electric Boogaloo

David Boon is a legendary Australian Cricketer, but also a legend for his drinking exploits.

On a flight between London and Sydney for the 1989 Ashes series, Boonie, known as "the keg on legs", set the record for most beer consumed on the flight - 52 cans of full strength beer.

This record will, most likely, never be broken, as I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to serve you that many tinnies nowadays.

It is the Victorian batsman Dean Jones who speaks most candidly about the 1989 flight. It was Jones’s first tour and his father had advised him to sit next to the opener to pick up hints on batting in England, “Boonie had plenty of advice for me as we had just left Singapore and we had just finished our 22nd can of beer.” Jones writes for the Australian Paper Web site. He went upstairs and fell asleep, waking later to “tumultuous” applause. Simpson thought somebody had won a card game until the plane’s captain announced Boon had consumed 52 beers. “Simpson went purple with anger and I mentioned to (selector Laurie) Sawle that maybe Boonie should be sent home and I would bat in his spot,” Jones recalls.

It’s a record Boon has never claimed, but Lawson confirms the score and says with great regret that he wishes he had rescued the sick bags from the plane. “They would have been worth a fortune,” he laments. “You can imagine Tony Greig selling replicas of them summer after summer after summer.”

Lawson and Jones say Boon walked from the plane unaided. Mercifully, Boon was not asked a question at the press conference. Taylor recalls Simpson getting stuck into the team about the flight. “When we got off the bus, Boonie was in quite a bit of trouble with Simmo, who was disappointed with him for drinking so much, and he called us into a team meeting and said. ‘Righto, a couple of things: David, I’m very disappointed with you and you’re on probation, but also I don’t want this story to leave this room. It’s not to leave the Australian cricket team.” And Merv Hughes at the back put his hand up and said. ‘Oh, Bob, I’m sorry mate, I’ve done radio interviews with…’ and he named four or five stations he’d done interviews with, and said, ‘Mate, it’s all over the world.’ Everyone started laughing and I think Merv got put on probation along with Boonie.”

Hughes confirms the incident, with variations. “I told a radio station I worked for that we had already knocked up the first 50 of the tour,” he says. “I got into more trouble than the protagonist. I was shitting myself that I would be sent home – it was my first tour and I was on my last chance the moment we reached the first hotel.”

Jones went to bed to sleep off his hangover but was called to the foyer by the concierge, who asked him to pick up his sleeping room-mate, Boon, who went on to average 55 on that tour. Australia reclaimed the Ashes and has not relinquished them since. Nor, despite many a bold attempt, has anybody managed to beat Boon’s 52.*

Over the years the odd non-cricketer has attempted to break the record. There have been unconfirmed reports that former Olympic swimmer Neil Brooks beat it. Nothing has been verified. On the recent Kangaroos tour several rugby league players attempted it but fell pathetically short; Sydney Rooster Mick Croker top-scored with 36 cans. The victorious English World Cup rugby squad is also rumoured to have had a crack, with hulking centre Mike Tindall coming close to 50 cans. “You can rest assured David Boon’s record is still standing,”Tindall’s centre partner, Will Greenwood, said later. “Tinds had a real go at it but we wanted to leave the Aussies with at least one title to hand on to.”

KuSTaV wrote:

scarnon cunts

did ya miss uncle kustav?