The Ireland squad arrived in London yesterday afternoon on a police bus,
after their coach from Leicester was impounded at a service station just
north of the capital.
When a police car pulled in in front of the coach with the flashing sign
'Follow Me', as the squad were being driven south on the M1, the players
thought they were getting a police escort to their hotel, something they got
used to during their seven weeks stay at the World Cup finals in the West
Indies.
Instead, they were guided into the London Gateway service
station where the police told us they were carrying out a vehicle inspection
check. This took place while the squad had an impromptu lunch. However, on
their return, they were told the driver was "over his hours" and
would not be allowed to drive for another 24 hours and the two rear wheels
on the coach were found to be defective.
The team's luggage was put
on one police bus while the squad and the other members of the travelling
party got on another, driven by a policeman and a 90 minutes journey ended
up taking almost four hours. The players had been given the day off by coach
Phil Simmons. They will practise at the Oval today ahead of their Friends
Provident Trophy game against Surrey tomorrow.
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