David Boon may well have been asking himself “How did I get here?” as he flailed his arms around, encumbered by a comically oversized pastel blue suit as a single spotlight shone down.
But rather than being confused, the former Australia batsman was actually giving a solid-if-unspectacular rendition of Talking Heads’’ classic ‘Once in a Lifetime’, written and sung by his near-namesake David Byrne, on Australia’s The Late Show, with his attire an homage to that worn by the heralded songsmith on their 1983 tour, immortalized in the concert film Stop Making Sense.
Boon’s karaoke skills left slightly more to be desired, especially when set against those of Australia teammate Mike Whitney, who absolutely nailed the key change in his rendition of ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston (geddit?) also on The Late Show. Max Walker’s cover of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’, meanwhile, was as unorthodox as a bowling action that earned him the nickname ‘Tangles’.
The Late Show lasted for just two seasons in 1992 and ’93, though given the anger with which Ben Stokes responded when compared to Ed Sheeran, the days of cricketers covering pop classics may have been dated anyway. Then again, given David Warner’s recent TikTok efforts, perhaps we haven’t seen anything yet.
