This I've got to blog. I'm at Brisbane airport sitting in a booth checking my emails. The guy in the next one is making a call on his mobile, and he's leaving a message, like this:
'Hi [name], this is Heals... etc.'I peer round from my booth into his, and it is indeed... Ian Healy. 'Ian Healy!' I say, and follow up with other 'huge fan'-type stuff, and can I have his autograph? Sure - do I have something to sign? You bet.
If you don't know who Ian Healy is, this is who he is.
Update on November 30: This amazing tale has an even more amazing sequel. I get on the plane thinking that I must watch out to see where Ian Healy is sitting. I don't spot him anywhere. Next to me there's an empty seat, however, so you'll know what possibility crosses my mind. And lo and behold, practically the last passenger to get on, Ian Healy strolls up to claim the empty seat next to mine. 'Hello, Norm,' he says, 'small world.' Let it be recorded, therefore, that coming to Australia in November 2006 to follow the Ashes series, I travelled from Brisbane to Adelaide sitting next to Ian Healy after having run into him an hour or so earlier. Did we spend any part of the journey talking about cricket? I leave it to you to form your own hypothesis about that.