The Times of India
Soaking In Lord's 21 Jul 2007, 0032 hrs IST, BORIA MAJUMDAR
As you step into the Baker Street tube station on any of the days between July 19-23 - the duration of the first Test match between India and England - you are sure to see elegantly dressed men, many of them wearing orange and yellow striped ties (the official MCC tie) and panama hats. This is the first indication that you are close to Lord's. And the train to St John's Wood, the closest tube station to cricket's home, will have many more of these supporters of the once gentlemanly sport, who, inevitably carrying an umbrella and a copy of the day's newspaper, gradually make their way to the ground.
Henley Regatta, the London Derby and a Lord's Test - these are three premier events for the London socialite. While the aficionado, a disappearing breed except in the members' stands, is intent on watching every ball and keen to pardon Dinesh Karthik's dropping of Andrew Strauss on condition that "he may have lost the ball in the crowd", those who are at the ground just to be seen are intent on having champagne and Pimm's at the coronation ground, mocking the statue of W G Grace there. These spectators hover around the members' stands for the entire duration of the two hours between lunch and tea. For them the cricket is incidental.
Things, however, change swiftly. Gloom soon gives way to bewilderment if you walk up to the tunnel between the Warner stand and the pavilion. The stewards in charge are far more knowledgeable about cricket than most of India's gargantuan television audience.
"Zaheer Khan should not have been done in by the slope after playing county cricket with distinction", says a steward. "Once you lose captaincy, you are done for in international cricket. But this guy Ganguly is truly something", his mate chips in while helping members on wheelchairs in front of the Warner stand.
As you make your way around the Compton stand to the gleaming Investec Media Centre, you hear a steward asking his mate, "Do you know how many times Sachin Tendulkar finds mention in the Lord's honours board?" While doing his duty - stopping unaccredited journalists from forcing their way to the media centre - comes the retort, "That's a nice googly".
The media centre is full of fascinating people. There's David Frith, who is just finishing a history of Australian cricket with Gideon Haigh; there is Botham, Gower, Boycott and Co and our very own legends in Gavaskar and Shastri. A chat with Frith is the ultimate in cricket talk. He has collected more than 200 original letters written by Sir Don Bradman, which includes a letter from the master about his rival, the legendary West Indian, George Headley. "I have almost finished cataloguing my data. It goes to 1,000 pages. My collection, perhaps the biggest private collection on cricket, includes everything you want as a collector - bodyline series cigarette cards, balls, bats, blazers and more than 5,000 books".
If you think he is a freak, you will soon come across someone who has seen India being mauled in 1959 and still recalls Pankaj Roy captaining the Indian side. "Did India have a fast bowler then?" he asks. Before you can reply, someone else pipes up, "R B Desai, he was better than this Khan". There is also talk about how the Pataudi trophy is a welcome gesture from the MCC on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India-England cricket.
A day of cricket at Lord's can never be complete without a trip to the museum, more so when an exhibition on India's cricket history is on display. The first glass panel that greets you is a ball that had hit a bird in 1936. The bowler: India's Cambridge Blue, Jehangir Khan. Some of the mounted photos at the entrance of the museum are rare vignettes of India's cricketing past. The one at the Roshanara Club, fondly remembering the day when the BCCI was formed, should justifiably make its way to BCCI's own museum, which is now being put together.
While preserving the historical, the museum also has place for the contemporary. There's Dilip Vengsarkar's blazer and Sourav Ganguly's shirt that he famously twirled over his head after winning the Natwest trophy. The exhibition also includes C K Nayudu's passport and bank account books, which shows a balance of Rs 308. And just outside the museum special first-day cover that the MCC has brought out to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India-England cricket is being sold.
Yet another cardinal attraction of a day at Lord's is lunch at the Tavern. Adorned with cricketing memorabilia, the desserts served at the Tavern are some of the best available in London. A sumptuous lunch followed by a trip to the Lord's shop completes a day of cricket romance. At the gate of the shop hangs a T-shirt that has the caption, "In affectionate remembrance of English cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882".
Having helped in putting together the exhibition at the Lord's museum, one would have thought entry into the Long Room would be easy. However, a member of the museum staff stops me saying, "You should come in early on Sunday and we will give you a tour of the Long Room". A gentle reminder that even today at the home of cricket there are certain unwritten rules that cannot be breached.
The writer is a cricket historian.
-- Cricket is an Indian game accidentally invented by the British. - Ashis Nandy in 'The Tao of Cricket'