Monday, October 14, 2024

UK Tour 12 - Lord's Cricket Stadium and Museum

(Links to all parts of the series are at the end of this post.)

June 12, Wednesday

One of the must-sees in London for me was the Lord's, the heart of cricket. So, well before our trip, I had booked a tour of the iconic cricket ground and its museum. The "Lord's Tour" can be booked online.

It was scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and we were required to arrive at least 30 minutes in advance for mandatory security checks.

With very little time to spare, we hurried from the BBC to Lord's. The journey, although not far, took about half an hour by tube.

W.G. GRACE

We arrived at the Grace Gate, located on St. John's Wood Road. It's named after W.G. Grace, one of the earliest legends of the game. We first went to the museum and then to the Pavilion.





We were accompanied by a guide who was very knowledgeable, articulate and engaging in his description of various facets of the game and its players.

W.G. Grace's influence on cricket was immense. He was an all-rounder who played first-class cricket for an astonishing 43 years (1865–1908), participating in nearly 870 matches.

In 1873, Grace became the first player to score over 1,000 runs and take more than 100 wickets in a single season. He was also the first cricketer to score a triple century, achieving this milestone in 1876.

Beyond cricket, Grace was a qualified physician, having graduated from Bristol Medical School in 1879. He balanced dual careers and was commonly known by the nickname "The Doctor".

THOMAS LORD

Being at Lord's was surreal, a name so familiar from childhood, thanks to the Test matches we followed religiously on the radio. 

The ground is named after Thomas Lord, who established it in 1787. Lord's is home to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is also the venue for Middlesex County Cricket Club matches. 

The stadium currently holds around 31,000 spectators after multiple renovations. This capacity pales in comparison to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which seats 132,000 — making it the largest stadium in the world.

MARYLEBONE CRICKET CLUB

Lord's is owned by the MCC, founded in the same year that Lord's was established, 1787. 

The club was started by a group of cricketers led by Thomas Lord. It originally played at Dorset Fields in Marylebone, London, where they hosted their first match between Middlesex and Essex. In 1814, the club moved to its current location.

In 1788, that is one year after its founding, the MCC formulated the laws of the game. While the International Cricket Council now oversees the laws, MCC retains copyright over them.

The club is so exclusive that the waiting list to become a member is said to be around 30 years!

THE MUSEUM 

Our tour began with a visit to the Lord's Cricket Museum, one of the oldest sports museums in the world.

The museum boasts an incredible collection of memorabilia, including the original Ashes Urn and the first Men's and Women's Cricket World Cup trophies. There are detailed exhibits on the evolution of cricket and profiles of legendary players.

There is a letter written on the 22nd of February 1933 by the secretary of the MCC to England's captain Douglas Jardine. It was soon after the infamous 'Bodyline series' in which English players, on the instructions of Jardine, bowled aiming at the body of the Australian batsmen in an intimidating manner.

When a delivery struck Australian captain Bill Woodfull, there was a fear of a riot. The situation was exacerbated by Jardine's character, who was perceived as rude and supercilious.  

However, the MCC supported Jardine. The letter talks of his "wonderful captaincy" and says:

The crowds seem to have behaved abominably, and from all accounts, you have shown most wonderful restraint, and I am sure you will continue to do so until the end because, as you are reported to have said in one of your speeches, 'the least said, the soonest mended'.

The museum also displays cricket kits worn by greats such as Victor Trumper, Jack Hobbs, Don Bradman, and Shane Warne.

There are also scorebooks of some of the matches. One of them is the first match played by All India XI on the tour of England in 1911 against Oxford University from June 1 to 3. 

THE ASHES URN

I was really delighted to see the original Ashes Urn. It is the most sacred and prized exhibit.

Our guide provided a fascinating history of the Ashes, and we couldn't resist taking photos beside it.

The history of the Ashes dates back to the 1882 Test series when Australia defeated England at The Oval — the first time Australia won a Test match on English soil. 

The Sporting Times published a mock obituary stating:

In Affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P. N.B.— The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.

The urn
During England's 1882–83 tour of Australia, which England won 2–1, captain Ivo Bligh was presented with an urn containing ashes — believed to be from burnt bails or other cricket-related items.

(Ivo Bligh, besides being a cricketer, was also the 8th Earl of Darnley, a British nobleman and parliamentarian.)

After Bligh died in 1927, the urn was given to the MCC, where it has been on display ever since.

On the urn, a six-line verse is pasted. This is the fourth verse of a song-lyric published in the Melbourne Punch on 1 February 1883:

When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;

Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;

The welkin will ring loud,

The great crowd will feel proud,

Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;

And the rest coming home with the urn.

While the original urn is inside a glass case, there is a small replica that one can hold, have a close look at, and take pictures with.

STUFFED SPARROW

The stuffed sparrow
Besides the old letters, willows, jersey, of course, the urn and other cricket memorabilia, what is really most unique is a stuffed sparrow.

July 3, 1936,  a ball delivered by Jahangir Khan of Cambridge University to T.N. Pearce of MCC struck a sparrow killing it instantly. It was stuffed and mounted on the very ball that killed it.

THE PAVILION 

After visiting the museum, we moved on to the Pavilion, which houses the players' dining room, besides the Long Room, often described as "the most evocative four walls in world cricket". 

Dilip Vengsarkar
The walls are adorned with portraits of cricketing legends. Among them are  Dilip Vengsarkar, and Kapil Dev.

Kapil Dev
Vengsarkar's impressive record includes scoring centuries in three consecutive Lord's appearances. Kapil Dev made history as India's captain during their groundbreaking 1983 World Cup win, igniting a nationwide passion for cricket that endures to this day.

There is a strict dress code here. Men and women have to be formally attired.

DRESSING ROOM

The dressing rooms for the home and away teams are located above the Long Room. So the players have to walk a long and winding distance to the field and back. There are stories of players getting lost on the way to the field and back!

The ground
Each dressing room features Honours Boards that list players who have scored centuries and made five-wicket hauls. The boards were originally limited to Test matches but were updated in 2019 to include achievements from One Day Internationals (ODIs) and women's internationals as well.

The Pavilion also features separate dressing rooms for the home and away teams, each with its own balcony for players to view the match. 

The entire Lord's Tour lasted over an hour and a half.

WRAPPING UP THE DAY

After the tour, we had dinner at one of the nearby restaurants and then took the tube back to Wanstead. 

It was a long and exhausting day. The day had started with a London city tour, followed by a visit to the BBC, and then concluded with this unforgettable Lord's experience. 

A tiring but truly eventful and memorable day.

(To be continued)

Links to all the posts in the series

01 - Departure (June 05, Wednesday)

02 - Dockwray Square, Tynemouth (June 06, Thursday)

03 - Cresswell Pele Tower (June 07, Friday)

04 - Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum (June 07, Friday)

05 - Boulmer Beach, Zamorins (June 07, Friday)

06 - Beamish Museum (June 08, Saturday) 

07 - The Holy Island of Lindisfarne (June 09, Sunday)

08 - Linhope Spout Waterfall (June 10, Monday)

09 - London, Wanstead (June 11, Tuesday)

10 - London City (June 12, Tuesday)

11 - BBC (June 12, Tuesday)

12 - Lord's Cricket Stadium and Museum (June 12, Tuesday)

Monday, September 23, 2024

UK Tour 11 - BBC


(Links to all parts of the series are at the end of this post.)

June 12, Wednesday

Around 50 years ago. Those were the days of valve radio sets. We had one at home. An HMV radio

Though my father was a chemistry teacher, he had a deep interest in history and current affairs, and he would regularly listen to news bulletins and other programmes.

I was in school at the time, and I was fascinated by this large device sitting on a shelf that allowed us to hear voices and music from far and wide. 

My curiosity wasn’t so much about the radio itself but about the world it brought into our home, from local happenings to global events. A few years later, the smaller transistor radios arrived.

Among all the stations I listened to, the BBC World Service stood out. It made a lasting impression on me, and even now, I still listen to it. Unlike in the past, though, when I miss a live broadcast, I can catch it later as a podcast.

My conscious decision to choose journalism as a career was in no small way shaped by the BBC, and it was a childhood dream to visit the radio station.

Today was that day.

After a morning walking tour of London, we took the tube from Green Park to Oxford Circus. Just 500 metres ahead was the iconic Broadcasting House.

I had finally made it to the BBC. While I would have loved to see Bush House, the former home of the BBC World Service until 2012, time was short. We only had an hour to spare.

This was also an occasion for me to meet a journalist who works there whom I have known for a few years. Despite having a recording scheduled for later in the afternoon, he had done his prep work ahead of time and took a break to show me around. I was so grateful for his kindness.

Even though I’ve spent 37 years in the newsroom, stepping into the BBC felt different. 

It was about reconnecting with those early days when I would listen to the World Service, an association that sparked my passion for current affairs and, ultimately, journalism.

I didn’t want to leave. But time was running out.

(To be continued)

Links to all the posts in the series

01 - Departure (June 05, Wednesday)

02 - Dockwray Square, Tynemouth (June 06, Thursday)

03 - Cresswell Pele Tower (June 07, Friday)

04 - Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum (June 07, Friday)

05 - Boulmer Beach, Zamorins (June 07, Friday)

06 - Beamish Museum (June 08, Saturday) 

07 - The Holy Island of Lindisfarne (June 09, Sunday)

08 - Linhope Spout Waterfall (June 10, Monday)

09 - London, Wanstead (June 11, Tuesday)

10 - London City (June 12, Tuesday)

11 - BBC (June 12, Tuesday)

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Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Harris-Trump presidential debate: Who won?


The second U.S. presidential debate yesterday (today morning in India) was significantly better than the first one between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. It felt more like a debate between equals, in stark contrast to the chaotic first encounter.

ECONOMY

Harris started off by responding to the moderator’s question: “When it comes to the economy, do you believe Americans are better off than they were four years ago?” 

However, she didn’t directly answer the question. Instead, she outlined her plans to improve the lives of Americans, which sounded more like an opposition leader challenging an incumbent rather than a leader defending their administration’s record.

This was not the strongest start for her. I wonder why she didn’t simply say, “Yes, we are better off now than four years ago,” and then provide supporting reasons.

To her credit, she quickly recovered and began a subtle offensive.

ABORTION

She was particularly passionate when discussing abortion, which was unsurprising given her track record on this contentious issue. I’m confident her ratings received a boost after that segment. In contrast, Trump’s stance on abortion did not come across as compelling as Harris’s.

RACE

On the issue of race, moderator David Muir asked:

Mr. President, you recently said of Vice President Harris, "I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black." I want to ask a bigger-picture question here tonight. Why do you believe it's appropriate to weigh in on the racial identity of your opponent?

To this, Trump cleverly replied:
I don't. And I don't care. I don't care what she is. I don't care. You make a big deal out of something. I couldn't care less. Whatever she wants to be is okay with me. ... I don't know. I don't know. All I can say is I read where she was not Black, that she put out. And, I'll say that. And then I read that she was black. And that's okay. Either one was okay with me. That's up to her. That's up to her.
Harris’s response on race was rather generic, except for mentioning a couple of instances where she accused Trump of acting in a racist manner in the past. However, she didn’t address the issue of her own racial background. 

I thought Trump handled this better.

GLOBAL ISSUES

On global issues, neither candidate managed to outdo the other. There was, as usual, NATO, Afghanistan, North Korea, Russia, and China. Their responses were all quite predictable. 

All said and done, I don't think either of them will be able to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of being elected. 

CLAIMS AND COUNTER-CLAIMS

On almost all topics, both Harris and Trump exchanged claims and counterclaims, each accusing the other of lying. Obviously, there’s plenty of fact-checking to be done.

Both Harris and Trump employed “scare tactics,” using “facts” to paint a dire picture of what would happen if the other candidate won.

Until the facts are verified, we won’t know the extent of truth in their claims and counterclaims. Also, whether Americans need to be fearful of the future if either of them is elected.

BODY LANGUAGE

On the whole, from the body language point of view, Harris came across as a more professional debater, frequently addressing Trump directly. 

I don’t recall Trump ever looking directly at Harris except for a few sideways glances. This gave the impression that Harris was in command while Trump was on the defensive.

Harris often used the word “you,” directly addressing the American people, especially when looking into the camera. Trump, on the other hand, seemed to focus more on the word “destroy,” as in “they will destroy America”.

While we don’t know the accuracy of the facts, claims, and counterclaims made by Harris and Trump, this was indeed a fiery debate, and Kamala Harris seemed to emerge as the more articulate, forceful, and stronger participant.

Here is the replay of the full debate: