Initiated on a (creative) whim by a couple of ingenious Honest Teafield marketers, the company placed unmanned kiosks in various public locations around the country and asked people to deposit a dollar for each beverage, using the honor system.
On 20 August 2006 the match was abandoned on day four when Pakistan declined to take the field after tea after earlier being penalised for doctoring the match ball.
The obvious question all along has been what happens when the field winnows down to Romney, the irrepressible Ron Paul and a lone Tea Party and social conservative candidate.
This year, the field appears likely to narrow more quickly, helping an opponent roll up social conservatives, tea-party backers and ideological purists, who might otherwise have been more fractured.