When the PA rings out across the serene green, and you hear the phrase “Welcome to Lord’s,” something inside you relaxes, and you have to shut your eyes and just take it all in.
At least… I do. For the past three or more years (it’s more, but it’s also semantics), I’ve found the Home of Cricket to be somewhere I feel… well, at home. On the best of matchdays, the sun shines, crowds of people jostle you, and you can’t help but smile because everyone – no matter which team is winning – is happy.
Okay, usually the losing fans are unhappy. But you know what I mean.
Just being there is uplifting.
Which is why, on the 25th of July 2011, there were more than 20,000 people lining the streets of St. John’s Wood, twisting and turning along Abbey Road, around the Wellington Hospital – stopping traffic and causing more than one potential spectator to turn a corner and stop dead, muttering “Oh, my god,” as they realised they had at least another corner to turn.
I was one of those people, up at stupid o’clock in the morning (read as half past five), and on the bus by seven fifteen, in order to get in that queue. It was at least a mile long by the time I got there – god bless the mp3 player – and moving only ten minutes after I had established my place. Everyone was good natured, though – all of us hoping that we were within the range to get our tickets, and as we inched closer, our bubble of excitement grew, until we got onto Cavendish Road, and were assured, at about 09:17, that we were definitely going to get in.
Cue massively happy faces and wallets that were £20 lighter. Not that I minded. It was a small price to pay on a very sunny day, to see a high quality battle between two incredible test sides.
Also, I’d never seen such a good example of stereotypical Britain. People queued. From 2 in the morning. To anyone else, this would be madness, but no. We queued, and we did it politely, thanks.
But with a golden ticket (because yes, it was the 100th Test Match between India and England, and obviously, they’re sentimental lunatics), and a little bit of luck, we were in and sitting downstairs, front row in the Warner Stand – and that meant sunshine, and the best view of the cricket I’ve seen in a while.
When the five minute bell was rung, the atmosphere jumped from fresh and exciting, to tense and exciting. We couldn’t wait to see the finish of the test match, and neither could any of the other 28,000 people in the ground. England needed nine wickets, India more than three hundred runs.
It honestly could have gone either way, but with half an hour gone, and my skin already burning (as a side note, would somebody find me some sunscreen that actually works?) the first wicket fell, and with it, rose a cheer that I had never – not even sitting in on the England/Australia Ashes test in 2009 – heard so loud. The atmosphere jumped, once again, from tense, to electric, and the place came alive.
We were treated to chanting from all sides, a Mexican wave – (the most entertaining of things to see at Lord’s, with cheers reverberating around the ground, and boos when the Pavilion don’t join in), even a spectator takedown from two very athletic stewards. It was nothing like the usual Lord’s crowd – more like the lively Saturdays at Old Trafford or the Oval, where the fans can be a lot less restrained.
It was the People’s Monday, (even tagged on twitter) not a corporate shindig like Lord’s can easily become. With it being the start of the summer holidays, prices being low and the probability of a decisive result, cricket fans had come out in force and proven that no, test cricket is not dead. It’s just too expensive to be able to attend all the days we want to.
From then on, the day became a treat. More than one standing ovation occurred – Tendulkar (12) batting was the occasion, the cheering nearly drowning out the PA system, even though the century he’d been waiting for was never delivered. Laxman (56) and Raina brought a little hope to what quickly became an unattainable total, both making half centuries and Raina going on to hit 78. Jimmy Anderson bowled his way to a five-for, taking down the Little Master for LBW a little while after Stuart Broad was denied the same. Broad was brought (briefly) to his knees, in fact, because decisions that should have gone his way, didn’t. It was unfortunate, but he pushed through for a 3-for, as Swann and Tremlett weighed in with one apiece.
It was just as entertaining in the stands as it was on the pitch. When there were lulls in the activity – for instance the age it took for Tendulkar to move from 11 runs to 12 – it was readily broken in the stands by the cheeky shouts of “Gun Show!!” to Chris Tremlett and his 6ft7 frame, and the players who were kind enough to sign autographs for the smaller fans.
Even when you are alone at the cricket, you are never lonely for long. People start conversations with everyone, you can listen in and laugh along, because chances are, you’re going to end up throwing in an opinion anyway. You become a part of the crowd, feel the highs and lows just like any other sports match. There is nothing boring about the cricket, especially on days like these.
Sunburnt all over – especially my nose – and with more than 600 photos on my friend’s camera, the day couldn’t have been more of a success. It’s not all about the action – sometimes it’s more about the atmosphere – though yesterday had absolutely everything you could ask for in a Test Match Day 5.
Even England got in on the joyous atmosphere, with a comprehensive 196 run win.
..........
England lead India 1-0 in a four match series.
The next match in the series begins on the 29th July at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
The next match at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London is Middlesex VS Derbyshire, CB40, on the 28th July 2011
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