Cyclist bowled googly in cricket challenge (From Bucks Free Press)

Cyclist bowled googly in cricket challenge

5:33pm Wednesday 14th October 2009 in Marlow By James Nadal

A FORMER school chum of England cricket captain Andrew Strauss has been bowled a googly in his 14-month cycle challenge to get to the Ashes in Australia.

Cricket-mad Oli Broom, who grew up in Cookham, discovered on Monday that a thief had stolen his front and rear bike lights.

Oli, 29, who now lives in Lane End, was left stumped by the theft, as he updated followers of his Twitter page about the beginning of his epic journey.

The chartered surveyor, who set off on the 25,000km trip from Lords on Saturday, has so far made it to Belgium visited Ypres and the First World War commonwealth graves.

He also saw the site of the famous Christmas Day football match.

Oli aims to reach Brisbane for the start of the Ashes in November 2010, while raising £100,000 for charity.

His main charities are The Lord’s Taverners and the British Neurological Research Trust.