'Drive' is England players' favourite

[King]

Unlike the Indian team which has been gliding around the English county side for over two months in a luxury coach, England's players travel on their own. More... 'Drive' is England players' favourite LEEDS, September 2: England's inspirational all-rounder and probably the biggest star Andrew Flintoff created a buzz at Old Trafford the other day: he zoomed into the practice session on a Harley Davidson. Clad in a leather jacket, jeans and riding boots, he screeched to a halt on his monster even as his mates were still rubbing sleep off their eyes. "He lives close by. So he came on his bike," England Cricket Board's spokesperson James Avery confirmed. Interestingly, unlike the Indian team which has been gliding around the English county side for over two months in a luxury coach, England's players travel on their own. "It's only when they reach London that they have the services of a coach. Otherwise, they all travel in their own cars. From one venue to another," Avery said. They can afford to do it in England due to the short distances and express motorways. Leeds to London, one of the longest drives, takes only about three-and-half hours. The players from the same counties, of course, travel as groups to avoid the monotony or tedium of driving. They meet up at the team hotel at scheduled times and have to make their own arrangements for training sessions. "It's impossible to pick them up as they live at different places," said the spokesperson. Intriguingly, even though the team has been together since the One-day series, they don't hit the roads in a common bus. "It just doesn't work out," said Avery, shrugging his shoulders. The players prefer to get their own cars, or Harleys as Flintoff did, as it gives them flexibility. They also find it easier as the Professional Cricketers' Association has special tie-ups with three-four big car companies. They can lease Volkswagen cars for six months each, with the cheapest car coming for 109 pounds per month and the most expensive for 552. They also have the option of buy-leasing Mercedes but it works out to be much more expensive: £750 initial payment plus 240 per month in 35 installments for a C-class Sports Coupe. As far as ECB is aware, none of the players has a really spectacular car. "Unlike the footballers, the cricketers mostly use middle level cars. They all drive four-wheel drives but nothing special or attention-grabbing," the official said. So the jibe at the height of the jellybean controversy during the Trent Bridge Test sounds strange. It may be recalled, when India were batting and edging towards a massive total, the microphone picked up a famous line: "I drive a Porsche Carrera; what do you drive?" It was supposed to be a sarcastic comment, referring to Indian players' poor taste in cars despite their richness. Well, for the record, Sachin Tendulkar owns and drives a Ferrari, Yuvraj Singh a BMW and Sourav Ganguly a string of SUVs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni owns 10 super bikes while the other players too splurge on Mercs and other fancy wheels. And as for the Porsche remark at Trent Bridge, the ECB still doesn't know who made it. "We are still trying to find out who said that," the spokesperson confessed. "Even we are surprised because we don't think anybody owns one," he added. Well, a little more research revealed Kevin Pietersen used to have a Porsche 911. He had, however, put it up for sale on the internet last year. Going price: almost £64,000. He surely must have found a buyer by now.

[King]

It was after all KP that was involved in the jelly bean incident eh :D