Figs, Sri Lanka and beer

I have discussed my Lord's attendance record here before, and the trend continues. I also wrote about the demise of Crockers Folly as long ago as 2009. That situation I am pleased to say has been reversed, but more on that later.

Going to Lord's on a Saturday has long been the tradition, but now I and SWMBO are available for recreational pastimes all week, we thought we would go on a Thursday for a change. We have suffered some dull Saturday's so some first day excitement would be good.

We were not disappointed either as Sri Lanka showed more steel than the first two tests and only a late century from Johnny Bairstow wrestled some parity back for England.

We punctuated out day with a mid match expedition to a local pub and were delighted we could revisit above mentioned Crickets. Eight years ago I wrote about it but it may have closed longer. It has been expertly restored to it's original but is now more a restaurant with a bar than the other way round. They welcomed the cricket crew willingly and had London Pride on draught. Bliss.

Life often has the habit of balancing highs and lows to keep everything in perspective. This weekend was no exception as our weekend started with a visit to my mate Figs. Figs and I have shared many days at Lords  as chronicled in the first link above, but I am now concerned we will never be able to so again.

A few weeks ago he was taken to hospital with a heart problem. His ticker has been less than 100% for some years but this incident saw him moved to Harefield hospital for a valve replacement and defibrillating pacemaker. Much like the young England cricketer James Taylor, has had fitted this week.

Unfortunately they did not think Figs was up to the op so they sent him home for strength conditioning and weight loss regimes. Sadly last week he suffered a stroke and has been in Atkinson Morley Neurological unit for several days. He has now been moved to Kingston for rehab. He has lost the use of his left arm and some movement in his leg. His speech is degraded and memory confused. It is all very distressing not least forMarion, his SWMBO.

They will scan him again in two weeks so lets hope there is improvement.

15 men on dead man's chest....

There is great rejoicing in these parts as the West Indies cricket team has just won the U19 world cup.  Cricket in the West Indies has been in the doldrums for many years as they've strived to replace the great teams of the sixties and seventies. Their strength was always a fierce bowling attack backed up by technically correct batsmen who could give the ball a right wallop when needsbe.

The tall potential fast bowlers have all diverted to basketball where the prospects and money are seen to exceed those of cricket. The American college system gain and Lords loss.

Some now see the T20 bastardised game as a tidy payday although Chris Gayle is hardly your perfect roll model. The Windows team for the world T20 tournament starting shortly, is in dispute with the West Indies cricket board and several players will be excluded if they do not sign their deals. Maybe they should field their new young stars.

50 not out

SWMBO and I were at Lord's on Saturday for the second testy match against Australia, we have been going for most of the 23 years we have been together. Saturday was, however, my 50th anniversary.

It all started in June 1963 when my dad took me out of school and we went to the second and third day of the second test against the West Indies. What a test match to debut in! West Indies were stacked with great name cricketers, Conrad Hunte opened, Gary Sobers came in at number 3 followed by Rohan Kanhai and Basil  Butcher. Frank Worrell captained the side and could call upon Lance Gibbs as well as Wes Hall and Charlie Griffiths in his bowling attack.

The match is memorable for two things. Ted Dexter took on the might of Hall and Griffiths, scoring 70 runs off 73 balls when others struggled around him, and following Butchers classy 100 in the West Indies second innings, Colin Cowdrey came out to bat the final  over with England needing six to win with a plaster cast on the arm he broke earlier in the innings.

Dad took me to many games after that, always saying the Friday and Saturday gave a chance to see the end of the first innings, all of the second and the start of the third, and so I continued after Dad was no longer able to attend. We were at the Massie test in 1972 when the Australian took 8 wickets in each innings, and he did take me to the last test played by the South African's at the Oval, before the D'Oliviera case isolated them,  in 1965

My mate Mike McBride and I took up the gauntlet starting at the England v Australia centenary test in 1980 and I was later joined by Figs together with whom I attended all five days of a test against Australia, albeit with lunchtime visits to Crocker's to lubricate the tonsils.

So now its SWMBO, who eased into the seat which Figs had to vacate when the tests started to clash with his role at the Wimbledon tennis. We have seen many changes. The ground has been developed extensively with new grandstands, Mound stand and Compton and Edrich stands. Spectators can no longer sit on the grass around the perimeter, and sadly Crocker's is no more.

I have been lucky enough to see the Ashes won and lost, the West Indies black wash,  the great and good from each Country, and some of the bad. Moments of genius from Clive Lloyd, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Richard Hadlee and Sir Ian Botham have been peppered with moments of madness and high jinks the pinnacle of which was a day in a box with Rillo and the Red Stripe girls.

So I am now 50 not out, time to take a fresh guard and push on to the century.

Genesis 2:1-3

I notice the second test between England and India is delayed by the rain. I find it strange that a test match in England is scheduled for a Friday start anyway, although I am told it is because players need three days rest between back to back test matches. Once again it seems players needs are put before those of the paying public.

I remember the uproar which occurred when the traditional rest day, Sunday, was abolished for test matches. The players would rather play right through was the reason given, although I suspect it was something to do with the TCCB feeling they could get a bigger crowd on the Sunday than on the following day. What of course got overlooked in all this was the fact that the rest day was really for the spectators who had spend three days on the lash and welcomed a day of rest to prepare them for work on the following Monday. But hey, the players have to come first, right?

Another aspect to bear in mind is the hospitality business. The Thursday and Friday are the traditional biggies, with fewer people wanting to go on the weekend. Well that's our own time isn't it, not work time when hospitality always feels that much better. This weeks Friday start has diluted that marketing opportunity as well.

Cricket is not alone in turning a blind eye to the needs of the spectators. The 'old farts' at the RFU and elsewhere modified the Five/Six Nations format a few years ago to do three things, all for the benefit of players and television. Some games are now played on consecutive weekends so making attendance, particularly away from home, less achievable. The fortnightly schedule at least gave some weekend time at home with the family.

Next, they have introduced Sunday games, the drawback of which mirrors the cricket problems above. After attending a game, home or away, the thought of having to go to work on the Monday is a real turn off and is starting to force many long term supporters to select their fixtures more carefully.

Finally there comes the question of kick-off times, with usually only one game of the three kicking off anywhere near 3pm. Just don't bring this matter up with supporters of premier league football teams, who only get to see their team kick off at 3pm in pre-season friendlies.