Tony had not yet begun his distinguished diplomatic career and at the time drove a brand new large limousine provided by the company for whom he then worked. We were making good progress on the autobahn when around Stuttgart the traffic jammed, Tony slammed on the brakes and we skidded into the back of a mature Volkswagen.
We were soon removed to a nearby Police Station for questioning while photographs of the car damage and the road skid marks were taken. Vinoo and I duly made our statements and signed. Tony was interrogated as the driver for a considerable time. Eventually he emerged with a very tall Policeman who announced to the three of us. If anyone has been injured the fine is marks. If no one is hurt then the fine is 10 marks. We paid the lesser fine. The police declared the car to be unfit to drive but drove us to Stuttgart railway station where we had a two hour wait for the train.
And the station bars had closed. The three of us, and our luggage, were thus a glum sight sitting on a bench in the station forecourt. And then, pushing a trolley loaded with beer was a couple of youngsters passing right in front of us.
We did just that and set about drowning our sorrows for a few hours before joining the train to Munich. We crawled into our hotel at first light. We drew the first game as veteran Jack Hyams scored an unbeaten 60 very slowly, and lost the second off the last ball with Munich nine wickets down, a match in which Scott hit 48 and I was run out for On Saturday evening Munich CC laid on a magnificent barbecue together with vast volumes of local beer.
A merry evening was had by all. Sunil stayed back in Munich while the rest of us drove to Ingolstadt along with some Munich players. Ingolstadt Park CC had been formed in but had obviously seen better days! We won the match easily and inevitably repaired to a beer garden. Ingolstadt had received an urgent call from Professor Dr. Brian Fell of Passau. The University had closed down for the long vacation and locked up all the sports equipment including the all important cricket mat.
