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mcgillianaireI suppose when a cricket fan decides to make their Test debut as a spectator having followed the game with a religious passion for nearly twenty years, it seems only fitting to pick an occasion that turns out to be the biggest ever crowd for the last day's play of a Test at Lord's, the home of the world's greatest sport. And so it was for me last week Monday. The record books will show that England outplayed India comprehensively but as far as experiences go, few will match the pure joy that was 25 July 2011. It felt special from the moment the ticket prices were announced the evening before and the response online was immediate. I knew it was going to be a big crowd but I never imagined people would be turned away because it was full! It wasn't as bad as Old Trafford in 2005 but for the biggest ground in England, this was something new. At £20, boy was it worth it!
(If you missed the panoramic views of my day out at Lord's that I posted about a week ago, you can view them here).
By the time I arrived at St John's Wood tube station around eight, the queue had already snaked itself in an orderly fashion half a mile from the ground and onto Circus Road (as pictured above). Ticket sales were to begin at half-eight, gates to open at nine and play to start at eleven. And as the rate of people joining the queue behind us increased after my arrival, I'm fairly sure it eventually ended up close to a mile long.
The queues were so long because the MCC wanted to negate the effect of touts buying tickets in bulk. I'm led to believe the MCC normally sells a maximum of four tickets per person on Day Five at Lord's but for today they sold a maximum of one per person. And with free entry for Under-16s who had just embarked on their summer vacation, a lot of young fans could be seen waiting patiently with the rest of us. Stood in front of me was an Indian gentleman who was also attending his first Test at Lord's but he had arrived in London just for the match alone from Dubai. The lucky bugger didn't have any tickets until ten days before the first day's play but his English manager at work (he was employed with Willis Group Holdings) suggested writing to the MCC. He did and they got him tickets for the first four days and then he queued for the fifth!
By the time we arrived at the ground we were disappointed not to enter via the North Gate as intended because it was being fed by a different orderly queue. But the stewards assuaged our fears and guaranteed us a ticket via the East Gate. I should also add that the manner in which the stewards shepherded the queues provided the best illustration of why queues are quintessentially British. We all know the chaos that surrounded ticket "queues" before matches at the World Cup earlier this year. None of that was on show at Lord's last Monday as 25,000 fans queued patiently. And I couldn't help but chuckle when everybody followed instructions that were bellowed out as though their life depended on it and without as much as a grumble (for eg: "stand as close to the wall as you can" and "if you're in front of a residential gate, leave a gap" etc).
That good-looking bloke is me stood in front of the perimeter wall display near the East Gate just to prove I was there. The picture has a funny colour because I had set the camera to a different setting by mistake.
By the time I entered the ground it was already a quarter past ten (about two hours after I joined the queue). With the exception of the two Member's stands, we were allowed to sit anywhere. I decided to try something different from the last match I attended at Lord's two years ago and found a seat in the Lower Mound Stand, which Blowers described as a "province in India" on TMS shortly afterwards. Radios with TMS and SkySports commentary were available in the shop for £10. Unfortunately I couldn't afford one but I did spend £5 on the match programme as a souvenir. As I made myself comfortable the chap next to me said they've just announced on the Tube that there was no point joining the queue because tickets would be sold-out! I felt lucky to be there. Out in the middle, Rameez Raja or Wasim Akram was talking to Ravi Shastri for StarSports.
As Harbhajan Singh walked towards the Nursery End of the ground, he passed a group of English players getting some last minute catching practice. Looks like Matt Prior's just about latched onto this one. Behind the players were the rowdiest group of fans in the Grand Stand, most of them Indians of course. And as the commentators pointed out on air, overall it was about 50/50 in numbers which was something special because on all the previous occasions in which an English ground had witnessed a fifth day's full-house, it was always dominated by English fans. And though we lost the match we were by far the louder bunch. At times it felt like we were watching a match in India, cheering balls down the leg side! The English fans next to me who were fifth day regulars at London matches said this was the most un-Lord's like atmosphere they'd ever experienced!
Perched atop the Mound Stand where I was sitting is the iconic weather vane Old Father Time. It was given to the ground in 1926 by the architect of the old Grand Stand on the opposite side of the ground, Sir Herbert Baker. Those of you with a sharp memory will remember Baker from last month's pictorial post of India House (ie our High Commission) in The Aldwych which he also designed.
Aggers and Michael Vaughan got a loud cheer as they came towards our stand and spoke to a few eager fans who queued as early as four and five in the morning to make sure they got tickets and good seats. Seeing as they were sat just a few rows to my left, they needn't have arrived until about quarter-to-eight. But that's Indian cricket fans for you. Mad as a bloody hatter! Speaking for myself, of course.
The English players walked onto the field to a loud cheer but of course, the Indian fans outdid their barmy counterparts as Dravid and Laxman came into view. One chap commented on a surreal Lord's atmosphere.
As the action got underway, you couldn't have asked for a better set of playing conditions. The stands were slowly filling up to capacity and you could sense the excitement in the air. Here's Laxman coming forward to a delivery from Jimmy Anderson, who's in his follow through, the slips waiting in anticipation. If you view the picture in full size you can see the red cherry around the middle of the pitch.
Another picture of Jimmy Anderson bowling to VVS Laxman but now you can see the Pavilion and Warner Stands clearly. The ground was not full yet but fans were being turned back at the station.
Stuart Broad - Man of the Series without a shadow of doubt, and to think his selection on the eve of the first Test was touch and go. Here's a tasty snapshot of his posterior and the immaculate green grass carpet.
Now here's Tremlett firing it into Dravid from the Pavilion End. I'm not sure who the short-catcher is (probably Ian Bell) but I'm fairly sure that's Jonathan Trott on the other side of the wicket.
The Pavilion (built in 1890) in all its glory with the minor exception of the members sitting/standing inside it. The old farts refused to join in with the half a dozen or so mexican waves that went around the ground.
By half-eleven the Grand Stand was filled up, leaving only the Warner Stand to the left of the picture to achieve the same.
Like I mentioned, several sets of mexican waves made their way around the ground. Both English and Indian fans amongst the proletariat joined in with gay abandon but as soon as they died down upon reaching the Members Stands, the old fogeys were greeted with derisory boos, loud enough to be clearly heard on the wireless commentary. Like I said, a surreal day of Test match cricket at the game's spiritual headquarters.
Can you feel the ego bursting out of this picture? It's KP of course fielding by our stand, his hands behind his back in a somewhat feminite pose. Also in view in a much more masculine hands-on-hips pose was Ian Bell.
It's fair to say a lot of fans (Indian, English and neutrals alike) came to see the Little Master, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, score his first Test century at Lord's and his elusive 100th international century. But it was not to be, though one could not help but admire the graceful compactness with which he got into position to play each ball. Needless to say, the reception he received as he walked to the crease and after he got out befitted the legend that he is and provided a flavour of what great players like Bradman and Sobers must've experienced at the same venue in years gone by. The wait continues...
This took place during the lunch break and I'd be ever grateful if anybody could explain what was going on. Nobody around me seemed to have a clue either. Unfortunately for us fans, we were not allowed to take part in what is known as the perambulation, that is the opportunity to walk onto the hallowed green grass of the Lord's Cricket Ground during the lunch break, because too many of us turned up to watch the day's play!
The English fans next to me were at pains to stress that they merely picked up the Daily Fail on the Tube journey to the ground and did not identify themselves with its politics whatsoever. I set them a challenge to get through as many headlines as they could without throwing it away in disgust but they didn't seem to want to budge from the back pages. Apparently England had dominated the fourth day's play.
By lunch the Warner Stand had filled to capacity and so the MCC had to allow remaining late entrants into the Members Stand which housed families. But not the Pavilion, of course.
The Lower Mound Stand where I was sat. In the foreground you can see people tuned into their wireless kits. I love how almost everybody is following the action so attentively. Test cricket dead? Piffle!
India lost the match about an hour and a quarter after tea. And they might as well blame me. In the five matches I've attended involving Indian teams none have won. Including this Test, the list is now made up of an ODI against Pakistan at Sharjah in 1996, a World Twenty20 against the Windies at Lord's in 2009 and two exhibition matches against Pakistan XIs at two different grounds in Muscat, Oman in 1992 and 1998.
Unlike football grounds, you can drink in and around cricket stadiums. And what's more, Lord's got special dispensation from the ICC (read: ignored its policy altogether) to allow fans to bring alcohol with them into the ground. But of course there's a limit, it's either two pints of beer or a 75cl bottle of wine. I took two cans of scrumpy in with me and topped up with a couple of synchronised drinks breaks to the stall pictured above.
After the match I decided to avoid St John's Wood tube station and instead burn some of the cider calories with a stroll through Regent's Park across to Camden Town. On the way I noticed that Nick Knight's Madras Rubber Factory blimp was connected to the ground from a lorry inside the park itself. Over the years, the blimp has offered some delightful views from cricket grounds around the world.
Overall, it was a magical experience dampened somewhat only by the disappointing result. But given how poorly India have performed in the subsequent Test at Trent Bridge, perhaps one can take solace from the relatively better fight offered at Lord's. A part of me wishes I had attended my first Test match as a starry-eyed boy of eight or nine but even at twenty-seven I was no less excited about it. I had always dreamed of watching my first Test at Lord's between England and India, and after missing out on the exhilarating finish to the same match between the two sides four years ago, there was no way I was going to do the same again. Especially not with a great day's weather and the Fab Three still in the middle order. So while I didn't get my fairytale ending, it certainly reinforced my love and passion for a game that gave me more happiness as a kid growing up in Oman than almost anything else. And certainly my fondness for Test match cricket, the ultimate test for any sportsman. I really can't wait to attend another day of the longer format at Lord's or any other English cricket ground. I'd love to attend the Day Five's play at the Oval this month but a lot depends on how India respond to the manner in which they have been decimated by the English so far, the weather and the bank balance. For now, I can at least finally say that I've broken my duck of appearances at the Test level. Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed compiling it! Let's turn it around at Edgbaston, JAI HIND! COME ON YOU INDIANS!
By the time I arrived at St John's Wood tube station around eight, the queue had already snaked itself in an orderly fashion half a mile from the ground and onto Circus Road (as pictured above). Ticket sales were to begin at half-eight, gates to open at nine and play to start at eleven. And as the rate of people joining the queue behind us increased after my arrival, I'm fairly sure it eventually ended up close to a mile long.
The queues were so long because the MCC wanted to negate the effect of touts buying tickets in bulk. I'm led to believe the MCC normally sells a maximum of four tickets per person on Day Five at Lord's but for today they sold a maximum of one per person. And with free entry for Under-16s who had just embarked on their summer vacation, a lot of young fans could be seen waiting patiently with the rest of us. Stood in front of me was an Indian gentleman who was also attending his first Test at Lord's but he had arrived in London just for the match alone from Dubai. The lucky bugger didn't have any tickets until ten days before the first day's play but his English manager at work (he was employed with Willis Group Holdings) suggested writing to the MCC. He did and they got him tickets for the first four days and then he queued for the fifth!
By the time we arrived at the ground we were disappointed not to enter via the North Gate as intended because it was being fed by a different orderly queue. But the stewards assuaged our fears and guaranteed us a ticket via the East Gate. I should also add that the manner in which the stewards shepherded the queues provided the best illustration of why queues are quintessentially British. We all know the chaos that surrounded ticket "queues" before matches at the World Cup earlier this year. None of that was on show at Lord's last Monday as 25,000 fans queued patiently. And I couldn't help but chuckle when everybody followed instructions that were bellowed out as though their life depended on it and without as much as a grumble (for eg: "stand as close to the wall as you can" and "if you're in front of a residential gate, leave a gap" etc).
That good-looking bloke is me stood in front of the perimeter wall display near the East Gate just to prove I was there. The picture has a funny colour because I had set the camera to a different setting by mistake.
By the time I entered the ground it was already a quarter past ten (about two hours after I joined the queue). With the exception of the two Member's stands, we were allowed to sit anywhere. I decided to try something different from the last match I attended at Lord's two years ago and found a seat in the Lower Mound Stand, which Blowers described as a "province in India" on TMS shortly afterwards. Radios with TMS and SkySports commentary were available in the shop for £10. Unfortunately I couldn't afford one but I did spend £5 on the match programme as a souvenir. As I made myself comfortable the chap next to me said they've just announced on the Tube that there was no point joining the queue because tickets would be sold-out! I felt lucky to be there. Out in the middle, Rameez Raja or Wasim Akram was talking to Ravi Shastri for StarSports.
As Harbhajan Singh walked towards the Nursery End of the ground, he passed a group of English players getting some last minute catching practice. Looks like Matt Prior's just about latched onto this one. Behind the players were the rowdiest group of fans in the Grand Stand, most of them Indians of course. And as the commentators pointed out on air, overall it was about 50/50 in numbers which was something special because on all the previous occasions in which an English ground had witnessed a fifth day's full-house, it was always dominated by English fans. And though we lost the match we were by far the louder bunch. At times it felt like we were watching a match in India, cheering balls down the leg side! The English fans next to me who were fifth day regulars at London matches said this was the most un-Lord's like atmosphere they'd ever experienced!
Perched atop the Mound Stand where I was sitting is the iconic weather vane Old Father Time. It was given to the ground in 1926 by the architect of the old Grand Stand on the opposite side of the ground, Sir Herbert Baker. Those of you with a sharp memory will remember Baker from last month's pictorial post of India House (ie our High Commission) in The Aldwych which he also designed.
Aggers and Michael Vaughan got a loud cheer as they came towards our stand and spoke to a few eager fans who queued as early as four and five in the morning to make sure they got tickets and good seats. Seeing as they were sat just a few rows to my left, they needn't have arrived until about quarter-to-eight. But that's Indian cricket fans for you. Mad as a bloody hatter! Speaking for myself, of course.
The English players walked onto the field to a loud cheer but of course, the Indian fans outdid their barmy counterparts as Dravid and Laxman came into view. One chap commented on a surreal Lord's atmosphere.
As the action got underway, you couldn't have asked for a better set of playing conditions. The stands were slowly filling up to capacity and you could sense the excitement in the air. Here's Laxman coming forward to a delivery from Jimmy Anderson, who's in his follow through, the slips waiting in anticipation. If you view the picture in full size you can see the red cherry around the middle of the pitch.
Another picture of Jimmy Anderson bowling to VVS Laxman but now you can see the Pavilion and Warner Stands clearly. The ground was not full yet but fans were being turned back at the station.
Stuart Broad - Man of the Series without a shadow of doubt, and to think his selection on the eve of the first Test was touch and go. Here's a tasty snapshot of his posterior and the immaculate green grass carpet.
Now here's Tremlett firing it into Dravid from the Pavilion End. I'm not sure who the short-catcher is (probably Ian Bell) but I'm fairly sure that's Jonathan Trott on the other side of the wicket.
The Pavilion (built in 1890) in all its glory with the minor exception of the members sitting/standing inside it. The old farts refused to join in with the half a dozen or so mexican waves that went around the ground.
By half-eleven the Grand Stand was filled up, leaving only the Warner Stand to the left of the picture to achieve the same.
Like I mentioned, several sets of mexican waves made their way around the ground. Both English and Indian fans amongst the proletariat joined in with gay abandon but as soon as they died down upon reaching the Members Stands, the old fogeys were greeted with derisory boos, loud enough to be clearly heard on the wireless commentary. Like I said, a surreal day of Test match cricket at the game's spiritual headquarters.
Can you feel the ego bursting out of this picture? It's KP of course fielding by our stand, his hands behind his back in a somewhat feminite pose. Also in view in a much more masculine hands-on-hips pose was Ian Bell.
It's fair to say a lot of fans (Indian, English and neutrals alike) came to see the Little Master, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, score his first Test century at Lord's and his elusive 100th international century. But it was not to be, though one could not help but admire the graceful compactness with which he got into position to play each ball. Needless to say, the reception he received as he walked to the crease and after he got out befitted the legend that he is and provided a flavour of what great players like Bradman and Sobers must've experienced at the same venue in years gone by. The wait continues...
This took place during the lunch break and I'd be ever grateful if anybody could explain what was going on. Nobody around me seemed to have a clue either. Unfortunately for us fans, we were not allowed to take part in what is known as the perambulation, that is the opportunity to walk onto the hallowed green grass of the Lord's Cricket Ground during the lunch break, because too many of us turned up to watch the day's play!
The English fans next to me were at pains to stress that they merely picked up the Daily Fail on the Tube journey to the ground and did not identify themselves with its politics whatsoever. I set them a challenge to get through as many headlines as they could without throwing it away in disgust but they didn't seem to want to budge from the back pages. Apparently England had dominated the fourth day's play.
By lunch the Warner Stand had filled to capacity and so the MCC had to allow remaining late entrants into the Members Stand which housed families. But not the Pavilion, of course.
The Lower Mound Stand where I was sat. In the foreground you can see people tuned into their wireless kits. I love how almost everybody is following the action so attentively. Test cricket dead? Piffle!
India lost the match about an hour and a quarter after tea. And they might as well blame me. In the five matches I've attended involving Indian teams none have won. Including this Test, the list is now made up of an ODI against Pakistan at Sharjah in 1996, a World Twenty20 against the Windies at Lord's in 2009 and two exhibition matches against Pakistan XIs at two different grounds in Muscat, Oman in 1992 and 1998.
Unlike football grounds, you can drink in and around cricket stadiums. And what's more, Lord's got special dispensation from the ICC (read: ignored its policy altogether) to allow fans to bring alcohol with them into the ground. But of course there's a limit, it's either two pints of beer or a 75cl bottle of wine. I took two cans of scrumpy in with me and topped up with a couple of synchronised drinks breaks to the stall pictured above.
After the match I decided to avoid St John's Wood tube station and instead burn some of the cider calories with a stroll through Regent's Park across to Camden Town. On the way I noticed that Nick Knight's Madras Rubber Factory blimp was connected to the ground from a lorry inside the park itself. Over the years, the blimp has offered some delightful views from cricket grounds around the world.
Overall, it was a magical experience dampened somewhat only by the disappointing result. But given how poorly India have performed in the subsequent Test at Trent Bridge, perhaps one can take solace from the relatively better fight offered at Lord's. A part of me wishes I had attended my first Test match as a starry-eyed boy of eight or nine but even at twenty-seven I was no less excited about it. I had always dreamed of watching my first Test at Lord's between England and India, and after missing out on the exhilarating finish to the same match between the two sides four years ago, there was no way I was going to do the same again. Especially not with a great day's weather and the Fab Three still in the middle order. So while I didn't get my fairytale ending, it certainly reinforced my love and passion for a game that gave me more happiness as a kid growing up in Oman than almost anything else. And certainly my fondness for Test match cricket, the ultimate test for any sportsman. I really can't wait to attend another day of the longer format at Lord's or any other English cricket ground. I'd love to attend the Day Five's play at the Oval this month but a lot depends on how India respond to the manner in which they have been decimated by the English so far, the weather and the bank balance. For now, I can at least finally say that I've broken my duck of appearances at the Test level. Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed compiling it! Let's turn it around at Edgbaston, JAI HIND! COME ON YOU INDIANS!
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 03:49 pm (UTC)Test cricket dead? Piffle!
I'm so pleased by this; I did worry a bit during the SL series, but there I suppose the combination of the weather, poor scheduling (Cardiff is the wettest Test ground in Britain in May!) and a weakened opposition didn't help. England has a reputation now for being a country where Test cricket still thrives, and I'd hate to see that disappear.
I'd love to attend the Day Five's play at the Oval
Good luck with that! I have an outside chance of getting to the final day at Edgbaston, which would be nice as I've never actually been to a Test in the flesh, but it really is only an outside chance. Forgive me if I don't join in your last two sentences, though. =;P
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 03:55 pm (UTC)Because of the scheduling. I'd actually be more likely to be able to go if it were a weekday as usual rather than a Sunday. I'd say 10% chance, really, but never mind.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 04:55 pm (UTC)But I completely agree with you about truly boozed up crowds. I think there's a fine line between the odd funny comment and the Barmy Army acting er... barmy. I wonder just how drunk the fans would've been had India batted on till the close of play and the match been left on a cliffhanger of a wicket or two to take for England. Like the last Test at Lord's between these two in 2007. The rain played spoilsport (for your lot, at least) in that match but with roasting conditions (especially around tea) this time around, it was obvious people were making more trips to the toilet and pub (in that order) than earlier in the day when it was slightly cooler!
And yes you're right, there have been Mexican waves at Lord's before but I wonder how many of them took place on the fifth day of a Test match and involved a full-house crowd... except the two members stands! At one point we did see some movement above the sight screen during one set of waves but turns out they were just adjusting their ties...
>I did worry a bit during the SL series
Indeed, scheduling is a major issue at Cardiff and although this series has drawn big crowds, besides the Ashes, I don't think there's been any other series in recent memory that's attracted regular full houses. Like you said, it's great that Test cricket still thrives in this country but a lot more could be done to preserve its sanctity and project its popularity. The real problem with places like Lord's and the Oval is that they cannot expand without moving to a new location and that would simply defeat the attractive selling-point that at least the former has purely based on its history. But that also means ticket prices for the first few days of play are out of bounds for many potential spectators.
The one thing that really stuck out for me was how many first-time spectators had made their way to Lord's last week. It was obvious from the responses online and even on TMS, when Aggers was talking to a few members of the crowd as I picured him above, he asked how many were attending for the first time, and a whole bunch of hands went up and cheered. And those were just the ones listening to him on the wireless!
I think it's obvious that there is also a lot of interest in Test cricket amongst Indian cricket fans but the problem is that it is not marketed and scheduled as well back home as it is over here. I mean I know you've pointed out the shortcomings of scheduling a Test at Cardiff in May but in India it's even worse. In my dad's time and I think right up to the mid-80s, Chennai always hosted a Test in December/January known as the Pongal Test (you might remember the posts I've made about our harvest festival in January). Now they're lucky to get a Test once every few years and even then it's dished out in such a haphazard manner fans either don't have enough time to plan around it or can't afford it (for whatever reason).
The odd thing is that ask any Indian cricket fan what the score is during a Test match and they will tell you more than you cared to know, but ask him/her if they've been to an actual game and they'll probably say no. During my first few years here I felt it was kinda the same way with English cricket fans. Most of them seemed to be lying dormant, not making a big fuss about the fact that they followed the game but always keen to know what the score was (unlike their football or rugby cousins). But I digress.
I hope people with a love for the longer format will make their way into the upper echelons of the BCCI and ICC because I think it's obvious that there's a way to balance all three formats of the game and keep it commercially viable. But I'm not going to count my chickens just yet.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 04:56 pm (UTC)Thanks! I really hope we turn it around at Edgbaston and at least become more competitive. If the fourth day at Trent Bridge had been the fifth day at the Oval, I might still have gone despite the atrocious display that got glossed over completely on the fourth day thanks to Bellgate. Now I'm not so sure I would want to waste my money on watching my beloved XI play like a bunch of pansies. It was like they couldn't wait to get the hell outta Nottingham and catch the first bus to Northampton. Anyways...
I really hope you're able to make it even though it's such an outside chance! I can't believe you'd not been to a Test in the flesh either! It makes me feel slightly better especially knowing you've lived here longer (and I suppose therefore had more opportunities than I have)!
But I'm sure we've cope with one less supporter. What we lack in numbers (which we obviously don't really) we make up in
rowdinessenthusiasm!no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 05:01 pm (UTC)And I meant *we'll (cope with one less supporter).
I need more sleep and I've been down with a cold/fever all day. Obviously off my A-game. Do forgive me.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 11:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 12:03 am (UTC)Cost has a lot to do with it: the first four days for most big series are sold out, and the ECB is not renowned for sensible pricing policies at other times either. (Case in point: the SL series, where there was really no reason not to let in more people at a cut price.) Not living in a big city and not having a car, public transport is also a major difficulty. New Road (where I have been!) is pretty easy, at least.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 06:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 10:46 am (UTC)* NZ won by 25 runs, apparently.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 10:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 12:41 pm (UTC)Aus v NZ, 1993/4 at the WACA. Ian Healy got a hundred.