Brian Viner: Wimbledon washout brings memories of some barefaced interruptions flooding back

This has been the most frustrating Wimbledon fortnight I can remember for rain delays, but in the Sue Barker spirit of trying to extract a bit of fun from a lot of damp, here is my top five list of sporting interruptions, whether natural or man-made.

1. George Davis is innocent

On the morning of Tuesday 19 August, 1975, I sauntered downstairs to watch the BBC's coverage of the fifth day of the third Test between England and Australia at Headingley. I was 13, cricket mad, and looking forward to a fascinating denouement, with the Australians 220 for 3 in their second innings, 224 runs behind. Rick McCosker was 95 not out but was due to confront the English debutant Phil Edmonds, who'd taken 5 for 28 in the first innings, on a wearing pitch.

I could hardly have been more excited, nor more disappointed on discovering that the wearing pitch had been vandalised by campaigners trying - and indubitably succeeding - to draw attention to the "plight" of George Davis, whose conviction for an armed payroll robbery was said to have been obtained with dodgy evidence (he was released, but went back to prison twice).

Rain would have forced a draw anyway, but of all unwelcome interruptions to sporting events, this was the one that horrified me most. I wrote about it in a book, and just a couple of weeks ago got an email from a man who told me that in 1975 he was a gynaecologist in London, and that on that very Tuesday morning he had an appointment with Rose Davis, George's wife.

"Dutifully," he wrote, "she climbed on the couch to suffer that most personal and intimate of examinations. As I pulled on my glove, I told her that she ought to know that I was a cricket fanatic. I still derive amusement from remembering the horrified look on her face, as well as the loud crack as her knees snapped together. I am pleased to say that we were able to laugh."

2. Erica Roe is not so innocent

Not many streakers have Wikipedia entries, but Erica Roe does. Her memorable bare-breasted skip across the Twickenham pitch was actually at half-time during the England v Australia rugby union match in 1982, so perhaps can't be classed as an interruption, but she might as well carry the flag for all those streakers who did interrupt proceedings. The man who pioneered the phenomenon was Michael Angelow, the navy chef who vaulted the stumps at Lord's on day four of the second Test in that highly eventful 1975 Ashes series. He was fined a whopping £10. As for Roe, she was last heard of running an organic sweet potato farm in Portugal. There must be a joke there somewhere.

3. Henman v Rain Man

It was ironic that July drizzle, such an English institution, contrived to deny another English institution, Tim Henman, a place in the 2001 Wimbledon final. Drizzle and Goran Ivanisevic, anyway. The Croat won the first set of their Friday semi-final 7-5, but Henman won a second-set tie-break to level the match, then battered Ivanisevic 6-0 in the third set. The momentum was firmly with him, but then came the rain, and when they resumed the following day, Ivanisevic won a fourth-set tie-break 7-5.

With the fifth set evenly poised after five games that all went with serve, and Henman leading 30-15 in the sixth, the pitter-patter of raindrops caused yet another overnight postponement.

On the Sunday Ivanisevic finished matters 6-3 and Henman was left to contemplate what would prove to be his nearest miss of all (although he would still have faced Pat Rafter in the final, and would probably have lost).

4. The Battle of Brookline

The US Ryder Cup team trailed 10-6 heading into the final day at Brookline Country Club in the Boston suburbs in 1999. But they rallied impressively in the singles, and Justin Leonard arrived at the 17th tee all-square in his match with Jose Maria Olazabal needing a half-point to secure only the second American victory since 1985 on home soil.

What happened next was later branded "disgusting" by the European vice-captain, Sam Torrance, who even lambasted Tom Lehman for purporting to be "a man of god". Leonard made an extraordinary 45-foot putt for a birdie, whereupon several members of the American team, and their wives, celebrated like revolutionaries after a coup, managing not to fire machine-guns into the air but only just.

Olazabal's putt to keep the competition alive, already difficult, was thus rendered almost impossible. Of course, had the tables been turned, the Europeans would have responded with a muted "well done, old chap".

5. Votes for women

The militant suffragette Emily Davison is the spiritual mother of everyone and everything that has ever interrupted a sporting event, even Erica Roe. Whether she meant to kill herself by throwing herself under the King's horse, Anmer, in the 1913 Derby, nobody will ever know. Probably not, because her rail ticket to Epsom was a return.

Who I Like This Week...

Jack Kramer, the 1947 Wimbledon champion, now 85 and still going strong. He gave a fascinating interview to the BBC, in which he recalled the conversation he had with King George VI after winning the title. Moreover, he revealed that the king was himself a fine tennis player, who had entered the doubles at Wimbledon under an assumed name, partnering his doctor. Kramer - who considers Roger Federer the best tennis player he has ever seen - was also asked what he thought of this year's winners getting £700,000. Many ex-players grumble at the riches available these days. Not Kramer. "I think it's fabulous. I wish it was more," he said.

And Who I Don't

Nicole Vaidisova, the stroppy 18-year-old Czech who exited Centre Court with unseemly haste following her quarter-final defeat by Ana Ivanovic on Thursday. "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser," someone once said, but basic standards of courtesy should still apply, especially at Wimbledon. To leave together is a small gesture of respect for each other, and respect for the occasion.

b.viner@independent.co.uk

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