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Lord of the greens

Archana Masih

Gentlemen are requested to dress appropriately and to wear a shirt in the pavilion and indoor areas. The bunch of Indian and Sri Lankan fans couldn't help but smirk at the formal tone of the notice inside the Lord's Cricket Ground. The other one at the entrance had just instructed drivers to 'please park facing walls and flower beds. Exhaust fumes spoil walls and destroy flowers.'

"When you are used to seeing kids playing cricket in shorts with sticks for stumps, and fans burning explosive fire crackers at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta - these kinds of notices come as a culture shock," said an Indian cricket freak in the group. Yet it is perhaps notices like these that have made Lord's what it is, and inculcate a sense of respect for the history of the beautiful ground, worshipped widely by both cricketers and fans alike.

Belonging to the Marylebone Cricket Club, Lord's was established in 1787 by Thomas Lord, a keen cricketer and a successful property developer. The MCC is the guardian of the laws of the game and formed the first law of pitching the wickets 22 yards apart. According to the official Lord's web site, its first home was a ground in Dorset Fields in Marylebone. It then moved to St John's Wood, to a site which was previously a duck pond. Today, it is a ground with the richest cricketing history in the world. "You can't go to London and not see the Mecca," is a common refrain from every cricket buff.

John Rose, our elderly guide, wearing a tie and blazer, did not miss an opportunity to reinforce this. "When you tread this world-famous arena, you tread on the footsteps of giants like W G Grace, Sir Don Bradman, Sir Gary Sobers, so listen carefully. Use the lift four at a time and don't get locked in the museum."

A club cricketer in the past, Rose is one of the 14 guides at Lord's. Leading the group dominated by Indians and Sri Lankans, he related an incident in the morning when a visitor was locked in the museum for over two hours. It was only on reaching the Long Room that the usher revealed that the victim was not a lost visitor, but an umpire who had ventured into the museum instead of attending the Annual General Meeting of English umpires.

Referred to as the 'Holy of Holies', the Long Room is the vantage point from where members watch the game with an expert eye and players go out to defeat or victory. Also known as the cricketing art gallery, it has portraits of Thomas Lord and C B Fry, the all-round English sportsman, who it is said, was offered the crown of Albania! He refused.

By this time, Rose had perched himself on a chair overlooking the ground in the Committee Room. "This is where the Queen watches the match whenever she comes here, and this is where every important cricketing decision is made." Taking the cue, the Indian girl seated beside him almost jumped: "Am I then sitting on the Queen's chair?"

Bearing on its roll of honour, the names of several Indian cricketers - Dilip Vengsarkar, B S Chandrasekhar, Mohammad Azharuddin, we were led to the historic Dressing Room 5. Its balcony remains etched in every Indian mind. It was here that we saw Kapil Dev, on our black and white television sets that 1983 summer night, spraying champagne after India lifted the World Cup.

It has been the only time India achieved that glory, so it was only natural that most of us in the group wanted ourselves photographed where Dev and his men once celebrated.

Meanwhile, the ground with a 36,000 capacity looked serene in the centre. The ultramodern, newly constructed press box, is perhaps the only incongruity. Bearing a close resemblance to a space ship, the box stands high above the ground. Built with an investment of 7.5 million pounds before the last World Cup, the swanky enclosure can accommodate 120 journalists.

It is in the Lord's Museum where all the cricketing treasures lie. Here lie The Ashes. The Ashes series is played exclusively between England and Australia. The terracotta urn remains in the museum. Perhaps it is a sound tactic by England for keeping the coveted trophy on home soil, irrespective of winning or losing!

The Ashes

Yet the real story of the Ashes is far more interesting . England's defeat for he first time on her home soil prompted The Sporting Times to publish a mock obituary of English cricket, ending with the words "The body has been cremated and The Ashes taken to Australia."

From this arose the popular expression which has been used ever since in connection with the Test series between the two countries. The urn, in fact, contains the ashes of a bail.

Tracing the history of the England-Australia Tests, MCC information reveals that one of its most important roles in becoming the most influential body in cricket was establishing a relationship with Australia, where convicts banished from England had started playing the game competitively.

So in 1877 James Lillywhite and an England side boarded a steamer and travelled for eight weeks to Australia to play the first official Test match, though MCC only officially undertook responsibility for England tours to Australia 26 years later in 1903.

Occupying another prominent spot is Jehangir Khan's sparrow. Rose had mentioned the sparrow on the first leg of the tour, how the tiny bird was killed by Jehangir Khan's ball to T N Pearce during a MCC match in 1936. The stuffed sparrow has since been kept on top of the ball that 'murdered' it, in a neat case in the museum.

If it had not been pointed out to us, we would have never noticed the vacant seat amidst a bunch of English cricket captains on one of the several paintings on the museum walls.

"You know why that lies vacant?" said Rose. "Because Geoff Boycott failed to show up for the sitting with the painter. They later fitted him standing behind the couch. I wonder why?"

One of the most popular commentators in India -- even featuring in television commercials -- Boycott captained the English side for four Tests in 1978.

Unlike most other museums, the pleasant oddity at Lord's is the permission to take pictures inside. So with portraits with the replica of the last World Cup, The Ashes and 400 years of cricketing history, the group moved out. And yes, this time no one was left locked in the museum!