Cricket writers complete 1000-mile bike tour

A team of intrepid cricket writers have completed an arduous 16-day, 1000-mile sponsored bike ride around the 18 first-class counties, and have raised more than £4000 for charity in the process.

Colin Bateman, the correspondent of the Daily Express, and David Lloyd, of the London Evening Standard, were joined by the former Sun cricket writer, Ian Todd; Alan Dracey, a civil servant from Lewes, and Bateman's sons, Tom (21) and Jack (19). The peloton left The Oval on September 13, and returned to Lord's last Sunday, September 28.

The route took the riders in an anticlockwise direction around England and Wales, along the South Coast via Canterbury, Hove, Southampton and Taunton, through the West Midlands to Manchester, then across the Pennines to Durham before heading back south to London via Yorkshire and the Eastern first-class counties.

The expedition, which was conceived while Bateman and Lloyd were on tour with England in New Zealand in February, was supported by several counties as well as the ECB, all of whom provided accommodation for the riders at various stages of the journey. On average the riders covered just under 70 miles a day, which worked out at nearly 100 miles more than they had anticipated at the start of the trip.

The longest leg, in terms of distance, was 87 miles from Chester-le-Street to Headingley but the toughest turned out to be the stretch from Old Trafford to Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales. The team reached their accommodation for the night (a youth hostel) at 8pm, having set off 11 hours earlier. According to Lloyd, tough hills and a relentless headwind made 72 miles seem more like 92.

The riders suffered five punctures between the six of them, which is probably about par for the course, and a total of five "guest" riders joined them at various stages, including Angus Fraser for a day-and-a-half in Somerset and the former Glamorgan and England batsman, Steve James, for a day in Wales. "I think this is the most physically demanding thing I've ever done," said Fraser, who reportedly broke his saddle on the Taunton leg of the trip.

The money raised is to be donated to two cricket-related cancer charities. One is the Laurie Engel Fund set up by Matthew Engel, the former editor of Wisden and Guardian cricket writer, in memory of his son who died aged 13 after suffering from a rare and aggressive cancer. Laurie's Fund, a branch of the Teenage Cancer Trust, intends to fund a state-of-the-art care unit for teenage cancer victims at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The other charity is the Heads Up Campaign, a research programme into cancer of the throat and head based at Oxford University whose patron is Hugh Morris, the former Glamorgan and England batsman who is now managing director of the England team and who recently fought throat cancer himself.

Five of the six riders intend to take a well-deserved break this week. But not the sixth, however. The 71-year-old Todd set off on a walking holiday on Tuesday.

The Route (approximate distance)

Sept 13 55 miles, Brit Oval (Surrey)-Canterbury (Kent).
Sept 14 64 miles Canterbury-Hove (Sussex).
Sept 15 66 miles Hove-Rose Bowl (Hampshire)-Romsey
Sept 16 63 miles Romsey-Montacute (63 miles)
Sept 17 62 miles Montacute-Taunton (Somerset)-Bristol (Gloucestershire).
Sept 18 71 miles Bristol-Cardiff (Glamorgan)-Monmouth
Sept 19 42 miles Monmouth-Worcester (Worcestershire)
Sept 20 52 miles Worcester-Birmingham (Warwickshire)-Stafford
Sept 21 55 miles Stafford-Manchester (Lancashire)
Sept 22 75 miles Manchester-Hawes
Sept 23 75 miles Hawes-Chester-le-Street (Durham)-Croxdale
Sept 24 70 miles Croxdale-Leeds (Yorkshire)
Sept 25 76 miles Leeds-Derby (Derbyshire).
Sept 26 65 miles Derby-Nottingham (Nottinghamshire)-Leicester (Leicestershire)- Moulton.
Sept 27 65 miles Moulton-Northampton (Northamptonshire)-Bishops Stortford.
Sept 28 52 miles Bishops Stortford-Chelmsford (Essex)-Lord's (Middlesex).