Ballance Joins The Other Lord Lucans Of The Ashes

Ballance Joins The Other Lord Lucans Of The Ashes

- Martin Johnson

Back in 1986, when the search for Lord Lucan was still at its height, it wouldn’t have come as a huge surprise to learn that Scotland Yard were taking a keen interest in one of cricket’s iconic photographs, namely the champagne celebrations in the visiting dressing room after England’s Ashes winning victory in Melbourne.

“Ere Sarge, take a look at this bloke.”

“Blimey, there’s a definite likeness. You may be onto something here.”

“Disguising himself as a cricketer, eh? Clever. Very clever.”

Only for someone to pop their head around the office door and say: “Sorry, lads, false alarm. We’ve just had a call from a Mrs French in Nottingham. Says it’s her husband, Bruce.”

It’s not often that England select a Test squad for an overseas tour without someone being awarded what the travelling British media refer to as the ‘Claude Rains Trophy’, after the first actor to play the title role in The Invisible Man.

On that Mike Gatting-led tour to Australia, French was originally selected as first choice wicketkeeper, but when none of the batsmen could make a run in the lead-up to the first Test, he was ditched in favour of one-day specialist Jack Richards.

Tours were much longer in those days, and poor old French spent the thick end of four months only occasionally spotted in the hotel bar, or a downtown McDonalds, and honing his skills in an area which would have made him, had he decided to jack it all in when he got back home, a first-class drinks waiter.