Cricket fans remember David Boon as a top-order batsman who scored 7,422 runs in 107 Tests, including 22 hundreds, at an average of 43.65. But that is not what he is remembered for in the wider sporting world.
Instead, it is the record that he set in 1989 that stands to this day and, indeed, may never be beaten.
That was the year when, travelling with the Australia side to England for their Ashes series with England, Boon downed 52 small cans of beer on the flight.
There had been precedence among Australian players. In 1973, on their way back from the Caribbean, Rod Marsh and Doug Walters are both reputed to have got through 44 cans each.
Legend has it that Boon did not set out to break the record. However, even before the flight had taken off, Boon, along with Merv Hughes and Mark Taylor, began drinking. They were soon joined by Dean Jones who kept score.
Team captain Allan Border, tour manager Bobby Simpson, and Chairman of Selectors Lawrie Sawle were seated further forward in the plane and were oblivious to what was going on behind them, fortunately for all concerned.
When Jones fell asleep, Geoff Lawson took over scoring duties, noting the numbers consumed on sick bags. Hughes and Taylor eventually had to give up, but Boon continued, cheered on by many of his team mates.
The captain of the plane then announced that Boon had gone past the record of Marsh and Walters. The attendants later confirmed the final figure as 52, a total that Merv Hughes, also on the flight, disputes to this day. He maintains it was 53!.
When the team landed in England, Boon took nearly two days to sleep it off, missing two practice sessions. Simpson was not amused when he found out what had happened, but, despite calls for Boon to be sent home, he remained part of the touring party.
Although some critics have argued that the cans were small size, it is well-known that flying accelerates the effect of alcohol on the body.
It is estimated that Boon drank nearly 20 litres of beer on the flight, equivalent of 897 ml of unadulterated alcohol in a 24-hour period. The recommended safe intake of alcohol, according to medical experts, is a third of that a week.
For anybody tempted to try and beat Boon’s record a word of warning from the Medical Journey of Australia. With shorter flights to London nowadays, the new record breaker may be dead on arrival in Heathrow.