Jon Lown Interview 2004: Part Two

Jon 'Flapper' Lown is now celebrating his thirty-fifth year captaining Ley Hill's Firsts, and shows no sign of relenting on his summer regime of tactical wizardry, run-scoring, wife-avoiding and visits to the solarium. A stuttering start to the 2004 season saw some harsh questions submitted by alarmed team-mates.

Click here for the first part of the interview.

What are the highlights of your cricketing career to date?
Holding three Ley Hill club batting records including the first and second wicket partnerships, fourteen tons, three hat-tricks, 8 wickets for 7 runs against Cublington and 7 wickets for 10 runs against Bourne End, and captaining The Hill for eleven years. Scoring 1,000 runs before the end of June in 1992 was also pretty high up there.

Who do you consider to be the most important influence in your cricketing life?
Fat Bloke - he brought me to The Hill.

What is you favourite colour?
Green.

How do you justify playing two games of cricket a weekend to your wife and young family? Do you have any tips to youngsters who are now facing the club versus woman dilemma?
You need to let them know who is boss from the outset and that cricket comes first during the summer. Collect brownie points during the winter and if you do not get to play on a Sunday, then mope around talking about cricket and watching it on telly until your missus tells you that you might as well be playing!

For some it is seeing middle stump cart-wheeling backwards; for others it is the feeling of a sweetly struck boundary or taking a blinding catch. What gives you the most pleasure in cricket?
Not being at home.

You appear to have aged in the last six months and now bowl, bat and field like a 70 year-old. What do you put this down to? Is it the pressure of leading a team in the premier league again?
Now that I am in my mid fifties, despite using all the skin creams on the market the years tend to creep up on you. Expectations of past seasons and pressures of still performing take their toll and of course there is much pressure of captaining the side and wanting to do well and not let your team-mates down.

Why do you always put the weaker fielders in the team in the areas where most batsmen like to hit the ball?
If I knew where someone was going to hit I wouldn't do it would I. Some people seem to think we have about fifteen fielders and that you can magically plug the gaps from producing another fielder from out of thin air.

Why are you so tight-fisted? (This question has been edited for a family audience.)
If I wasn't you wouldn't have such nice facilities to play cricket.

Who is your favourite author and what is the best book you have ever read?
I don't have time to read books - too busy selecting our strongest side and doing the accounts for Ley Hill CC.

Who is your favourite wrestler?
The Ultimate Warrior - Stone Cold Steve Austin comes a close second with HHH in third.

Why don't you ever tell Eleanor:
a) whether we are batting or fielding
b) who won the toss, or
c) what the batting order is?
a) Surely by now she can tell if we are the batting side or taking the field.
b) Usually obvious depending upon (a) above.
c) You need to remain flexible throughout the game.

After your falling out with Paul Humphreys a few years ago, would you ever consider playing him in the firsts or is he barred for life?
If he is good enough then he can play in the firsts. Our spat is over and he knows where he stands so if he puts in the performances in the seconds then he can of course be considered for the firsts.

Why don't you go out on the beers any more?
Too old!!

Why do you not wear white underpants underneath your cricket whites? Andy Rennard gets away with wearing blue pants because he is The Ladies Man and he thinks it turns them on, but what is your excuse?
Interested to know who has been looking at my underpants!

Eleanor has offered to teach you how to score. Are you interested?
Unfortunately I can't score when I am still playing - maybe in a few years time when I retire although I may decide to take up umpiring - alternatively I could be another Jim Rainey and still be playing in another 20 years!