littleduck
15 Sep 2005, 10:11
I suddenly find myself having newfound respect for the poms...
This is arguably the most impressive celebratory drink in recent times:
Boon's boozy record blitzed
By Toby Forage
Fox Sports editor
September 15, 2005
ENGLAND'S Ashes heroes may have set a new record off the field after a bender that arguably hit David Boon's infamous 52 beers between Australia and England firmly for six.
Michael Vaughan's victorious troops reportedly racked up a booze bill in the region of £34,000 ($80,480) as they spent more than 24 hours celebrating a first Ashes win over Australia for nearly two decades.
Welcome home: England fans greet Aussies in Sydney
Interactive: How the Ashes were won and lost
Video: Freddie unsteady as England celebrates
The bulk was blown - or rather swallowed - at Soho nightclub Prophecy, where more than 30 various-sized bottles of champagne and other refreshments were guzzled.
Around 170 bottles of Japanese beer were also washed down by the likes of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen as they released the enormous tension of three months of incredible Test cricket with a spectacular session.
The drinking started at The Oval, just moments after England had secured the draw that delivered a 2-1 series win, its first in the Ashes since 1987.
Australia players joined in congratulations for a few hours before leaving their hosts to their own exclusive celebrations at about 10pm.
From then until midnight, the team drank beers at their hotel in the City before heading out to Soho, where three solid hours of drinking and dancing began.
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Then it was back to the hotel for more beer and champagne, but sleep was never an option.
By 6.30am, "Freddie" Flintoff was reportedly onto the gin and tonics, just two hours before a champagne reception at Mansion House with the City of London's Lord Mayor, which he attended on no sleep.
The team left Mansion House - which bowler Matthew Hoggard described as "some sort of cloakroom" - to embark on their rousing open-top bus tour of London.
"We got on the bus and, when we turned the first corner, suddenly we could see for half a mile and the pavement was lined all the way . . . It was an amazing sight," Hoggard wrote in this column for The Times yesterday.
The two-hour crawl through a worshipful throng of fans to Trafalgar Square gave the players more time to consume yet more bubbly, with another 40 bottles of champers polished off.
Flintoff, by this stage, was wobbling like Australia's middle order, while Pietersen had turned to caffeine-loaded Red Bull for salvation.
"To be honest, I'm struggling," a sozzled Flintoff slurred to the crowd over the public address system at Trafalgar Square.
"I've not been to bed yet. The eyes behind these (sun) glasses tell a thousand stories."
A reception with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street was next up for the team, where the drinks threatened to dry up.
"The only drinks on offer were pineapple juice and water," Hoggard revealed.
"Someone had a quiet word, though, and soon enough some white wine appeared. It was a bit warm, but you can?t have everything I suppose."
The wine is believed to have come from the PM's personal stash.
Vaughan admitted to Mr Blair that not many of the players had slept before accepting his invitation. "I'll leave it to you to guess which ones they are," he told the PM.
By 6pm, the players had left Downing Street, sunk 50 more bottles of champagne and 100 more bottles of beer at another reception at Lord's. Soon after, Ashley Giles fell asleep on Marcus Trescothick's shoulder.
But while most of the team was finally beaten, Giles, like he had with the bat at The Oval, revived himself to join fellow fifth Test hero Pietersen and captain Vaughan on yet another sojourn to clubland at 11.30pm, leaving plenty more time for tinnies.
Flintoff followed up his day with a breakfast of vodka, The Sun reported overnight.
When Mike Gatting - until Monday night the last England captain to win the little urn - asked the big all rounder if he'd eaten anything, he replied: "Yes. A cigar."
FOX SPORTS
This is arguably the most impressive celebratory drink in recent times:
Boon's boozy record blitzed
By Toby Forage
Fox Sports editor
September 15, 2005
ENGLAND'S Ashes heroes may have set a new record off the field after a bender that arguably hit David Boon's infamous 52 beers between Australia and England firmly for six.
Michael Vaughan's victorious troops reportedly racked up a booze bill in the region of £34,000 ($80,480) as they spent more than 24 hours celebrating a first Ashes win over Australia for nearly two decades.
Welcome home: England fans greet Aussies in Sydney
Interactive: How the Ashes were won and lost
Video: Freddie unsteady as England celebrates
The bulk was blown - or rather swallowed - at Soho nightclub Prophecy, where more than 30 various-sized bottles of champagne and other refreshments were guzzled.
Around 170 bottles of Japanese beer were also washed down by the likes of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen as they released the enormous tension of three months of incredible Test cricket with a spectacular session.
The drinking started at The Oval, just moments after England had secured the draw that delivered a 2-1 series win, its first in the Ashes since 1987.
Australia players joined in congratulations for a few hours before leaving their hosts to their own exclusive celebrations at about 10pm.
From then until midnight, the team drank beers at their hotel in the City before heading out to Soho, where three solid hours of drinking and dancing began.
Advertisement:
Then it was back to the hotel for more beer and champagne, but sleep was never an option.
By 6.30am, "Freddie" Flintoff was reportedly onto the gin and tonics, just two hours before a champagne reception at Mansion House with the City of London's Lord Mayor, which he attended on no sleep.
The team left Mansion House - which bowler Matthew Hoggard described as "some sort of cloakroom" - to embark on their rousing open-top bus tour of London.
"We got on the bus and, when we turned the first corner, suddenly we could see for half a mile and the pavement was lined all the way . . . It was an amazing sight," Hoggard wrote in this column for The Times yesterday.
The two-hour crawl through a worshipful throng of fans to Trafalgar Square gave the players more time to consume yet more bubbly, with another 40 bottles of champers polished off.
Flintoff, by this stage, was wobbling like Australia's middle order, while Pietersen had turned to caffeine-loaded Red Bull for salvation.
"To be honest, I'm struggling," a sozzled Flintoff slurred to the crowd over the public address system at Trafalgar Square.
"I've not been to bed yet. The eyes behind these (sun) glasses tell a thousand stories."
A reception with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street was next up for the team, where the drinks threatened to dry up.
"The only drinks on offer were pineapple juice and water," Hoggard revealed.
"Someone had a quiet word, though, and soon enough some white wine appeared. It was a bit warm, but you can?t have everything I suppose."
The wine is believed to have come from the PM's personal stash.
Vaughan admitted to Mr Blair that not many of the players had slept before accepting his invitation. "I'll leave it to you to guess which ones they are," he told the PM.
By 6pm, the players had left Downing Street, sunk 50 more bottles of champagne and 100 more bottles of beer at another reception at Lord's. Soon after, Ashley Giles fell asleep on Marcus Trescothick's shoulder.
But while most of the team was finally beaten, Giles, like he had with the bat at The Oval, revived himself to join fellow fifth Test hero Pietersen and captain Vaughan on yet another sojourn to clubland at 11.30pm, leaving plenty more time for tinnies.
Flintoff followed up his day with a breakfast of vodka, The Sun reported overnight.
When Mike Gatting - until Monday night the last England captain to win the little urn - asked the big all rounder if he'd eaten anything, he replied: "Yes. A cigar."
FOX SPORTS