What has four wheels and cries? The losers' team bus after the World Cup final.
As much time as cricketers spend in planes, trains and assorted automobiles, the team bus probably holds special significance - it carries a nervy bunch of players to the ground, is the venue for post-post-match celebrations, and it's a space for players to bond over victories or heartbreaks and make TikTok videos in.
It's also a good spot for a nap.

Not all victory parades come World Cup-size - Gloucestershire's more modest one to celebrate their 1973 Gillette Cup win over Sussex featured much trophy-waving but no adoring crowd, just some mystified high-street shoppers in Bristol.

Cricket buses are not grimy Greyhound-style public transport. Nothing but the best for these top athletes. County cricketers spend nearly a third of their season in the team bus, travelling from game to game so their buses come kitted out with all the amenities - DVD players, coffee machines and even a little kitchen with ovens.
Still, while luxury is all very well, sometimes you need to get out and soak in some local colour and flavour.

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Cricket boards today spare no expense for visiting teams - top-of-the-line hotels, security, private chefs, luxury transport, the works. What did visiting teams in the '80s get? Complimentary passes to hop-on-hop-off buses, take them or leave them.

Visuals of a team entering or exiting the bus form the template for tour coverage today, one everyone is familiar with. What does it look like to the players, though?

It's also the closest most fans will get to their favourite team.

What's the most efficient way to get a cricket team to bond in the cramped confines of a mini-bus? Don't tell them where they're going.




