Ask any cricket fan to name their favourite sporting personalities and no doubt David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd will rank highly on that list.

Kumari Tilakawardane chatted with the former England player and coach to get his views on travel, cricket, and everything in between.

To go back and read Part One of this interview, Bumble on Cricket, please click here.

 

When you’re not travelling for work around the world, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to travel around the UK, because we can take the dog with us. I’ve got a house in the Yorkshire Moors. I’ve got a little 26-foot boat, with all mod cons – tele, cooker, heating, a fridge… everything you need. It’s like a caravan on the water.

I’ll cruise up and down the River Ouse. Six miles per hour… what could be better? I’m not a great swimmer, but it’s only three-foot-deep, and I’ve got my life jackets of course.

When I retire, the idea is I’m going to get a proper one in the Mediterranean. So that means I’ve got to take a navigation course to find out what buoys are and what they do. I think it’s dead simple… red buoy, green buoy, stay this side…

 

You won’t be retiring any time soon, will you?

Well, I won’t be going on forever. I want to do other things. Get in my boat. Travel – that’s what I want to do. I want to travel for something other than work.

Our work day is a long day, with the preparation and the post-match. It’s not sort of ‘six o’clock and cheerio’. But I’m happy with what I’m doing at the minute.

 

You’re known as a huge football fan, and obviously you’ve been to a lot of cricket. What non-football or cricket sporting event would you love to attend?

The Ryder Cup would be good. Or the Masters, I’d love to go to the Masters. I’ve never been… that would be a real experience. My boss at Sky always goes and I keep asking him if he wants a mate to come along. He hasn’t got back to me on that.

 

I believe you were given the Freedom of Accrington…

That was a good ceremony. It was also the Mayor Making Ceremony for Mohammad Ayub. That ceremony was in Arabic, and then translated into English, which was really good, a real experience. So it was in St James’ parish church, and the local imam was preaching from the pulpit in the Church of England church from the Quran, and then he translated it into English. It was not to be missed, it was brilliant.

 

If you could pass one law in Accrington, what would it be?

Get rid of all the Pound Shops! That will upset many people. No… I’d make it cleaner. Dropping litter would be a major offence. We still have stocks in Accrington, like the old days, and litterers would be in the stocks.

 

Besides ‘Sweet Caroline’, what’s on your travel playlist?

I’m a rocker. So The Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, The Band, Jerry Lee Lewis, Supertramp, Led Zeppelin, Roy Orbison. I collect vinyl; I’ve got a blue vinyl Supertramp which looks great. You can’t go without Roy Orbison A Black & White Night Live, with James Burton on guitar.

 

And reading list?

I read magazines, I don’t read books. Boat magazines, motorbikes, fishing, house.

 

What do you miss most when you’re travelling?

The dog. Definitely. I miss the dog terribly. Her name’s Tags, she’s 14, and she’s not been well; she’s deaf, and blind in one eye. She was in emergency hospital recently for three nights. She seems ok now, and she’s being spoilt rotten.

 

What’s your favourite souvenir from your travels?

It’s a bit corny… We’ve got a little cottage up in North Yorkshire, and the bathroom depicts the seaside. So, every beach my wife and I visit, we bring back either a pebble or a shell for that bathroom. We’ve got quite a collection… no idea where they’re all from, of course.

 

If you could invite any three people to dinner, who would it be?

Can I have four? Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts.

 

Any final words of wisdom for fellow travellers?

Get out and about. See different cultures. That’s the main thing, seeing different things and your eyes are open. Sometimes it’ll be sad, sometimes it’ll be very uplifting. Mind-blowing, unbelievably beautiful, spectacular. But you’re embracing different cultures which will stay with you forever.

 

Click to read Parts One and Two of this interview. Discover more information on upcoming sporting tours on our website, or give our Sports Sales Consultants a call on 01244 355 604.

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