‘Bumble’ goes into bat for New Zealand
As the country basks in the glory of praise coming form American TV personality Stephen Colbert, colourful English cricket personality David Lloyd has also gone into bat for New Zealand’s beauty and hospitality. Colbert, host of is in the of a lively dubbed midst series
bringing some Kiwi quirks to his United
States and global audience.
Lloyd, affectionately known as ‘Bumble’, is influential in his own right. The former England cricket player and coach is these days a TV commentator and newspaper columnist with his witty views eagerly digested.
He has been dishing out plenty of praise for New Zealand’s beauty during his commentary slots on the current tour by England who are engaged in the first test against the Black Caps in Mt Maunganui.
And he took that to another level in his regular column for the
yesterday.
‘‘I am often asked to name my favourite place to tour. I’m in it right now: New Zealand, by a distance,’’ Lloyd wrote. ‘‘It’s such a relaxing place, so picturesque, ultra-clean and tidy. The orderliness suits me fine. The people are friendly, the food outstanding, and most importantly the pubs are brilliant. ‘‘They’ve got into craft ales, and I found one which suits my palate: Panhead Supercharger. No wonder I’ve been running up mountains.’’
That reference was to negotiating Mt Maunganui earlier in the week and looking out over the cityscape and the Pacific Ocean. ‘‘My colleague Mike Atherton has arrived for the tests. And, suffering from acute jetlag, he declared we should walk up Mount Maunganui,’’ Lloyd wrote for the
‘‘The people are friendly . . . and most importantly the pubs are brilliant.’’
David Lloyd
‘‘It takes 55 minutes, and it’s a sheer gradient. We managed it in 40, which has prompted me to work on my fitness.
‘‘I want to start running again. My head, my lungs and my heart are all willing. But my knees flatly refused, especially the metal one, which said: ‘No way, Jose’.’’
Earlier in the tour Lloyd suggested he could easily live in Hawke’s Bay while between the Twenty20 matches and the opening test he said: ‘‘I had some downtime in Queenstown, an outstanding allaction venue in the South Island.’’ on New Zealand’s attractions