The England cricket team’s end-of-tour celebrations came to a harrowing conclusion in Sydney when physio Dean Conway was robbed at knife-point in the team hotel.
Four men entered the Radisson Plaza Hotel and demanded money from the safes, as they forced staff to the ground. Their bid was foiled, so they turned their attention to Conway, who was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Conway, in the lobby making a phone call when the balaclava-clad quartet burst in around 4am, was forced to hand over his wallet and two mobile phones.
He had been with batsman Andrew Strauss, coaching staff members Matthew Maynard, Kevin Shine and Mark Garaway and head of security Reg Dickason, sharing drinks in the bar to toast England’s Commonwealth Bank Series triumph hours earlier.
Those five fled to another room when they saw the thieves break in.
"Dean just happened to be in their line of sight, knives were produced and threats were made, but thankfully he was not hurt," said an England spokesman.
England’s players and staff left Australia early evening Monday on two different flights back to the United Kingdom.
Having been whitewashed in the Ashes, England gained a modicum of revenge with a 2-0 victory over Australia in the finals of the triangular one-day tournament.
