Skip to content

Ted Dexter article for Cricketer magazine (see MCC Report)

TED DEXTER COPY FOR THE CRICKETER MAGAZINE

A golfing friend admitted to me the other day that he had never been to Lord's. What rather shocked me was the matter of fact tone, as though a visit to the Mecca of cricketers worldwide was simply an optional extra. What can you say in the face of such indifference? Better to say nothing perhaps and hope that he comes to realise the error of his ways before too long.

To me the place is more of a second home, starting with a Test match outing from preparatory school. Sitting on the grass below the Mound Stand, we small boys were able to ask Denis Compton for his autograph when a wicket fell. “Not now lads” was the answer but he still made our day with a little chat about the game. Next time it was Alec Bedser bowling to Don Bradman with a ring of close fielders known in those days as the “Leg Trap”. Hutton dropped one and caught another. Or did he?

Childhood memories can be vivid enough but they can also be wildly inaccurate. Not so long ago I returned to the first proper school cricket pitch I played on, only to find that it was hardly larger than a couple of tennis courts. No wonder my first six seemed such a mighty hit at the time. So it was reassuring to check my facts with the great Sir Alec some fifty years after the event and to have my recollection instantly confirmed. “He should have caught the first one” was the typical bowler's response.

Along came representative schools matches, university matches, Bank holiday matches, (Middlesex v Sussex), Gentlemen v Players, M.C.C v Tourists and finally the first of a few Tests. There are too many memorable moments to start recounting them here but there was always the same tingle up the spine just walking in at the Grace gate and even more so when walking through the Long Room and out onto the pitch. Rather like hitting the drive off the first on the Old Course at St Andrew's. The ghosts of players from down the ages are never far away.

Apart from the abiding sense of history, I have to admit that Lord's was not my absolute favourite ground to play on. There was the sideways slope to contend with and the “ridge” at the Nursery End where one ball would fly and the next keep low. Also, in keeping with most grounds at the time, there was no sightscreen in front of the pavilion. Seeing the ball as it emerged from a mixture of red brick, reflecting windows and a sea of panama hats was not always easy.

It was at our insistence as players after one particularly lively pitch that “Gubby” Allen, who virtually ran the place in those days, was persuaded to survey the playing area properly. Though he was loath to embrace the “ridge” theory at the time, our concerns did seem to bear fruit over a period and with all of the playing area now re-laid, and a sliding sight-screen to boot, there is much that the modern batsman can thank us for.

Since then, of course the ground has become hardly recognisable with the demise of the original Tavern and then the Warner Stand arising in place of the original few rows of seats and shed roof in the North-West corner. More recently the enlarged Compton and Edrich stands, the partly Getty-funded Mound stand with its fairground tented look and the massive new Grand Stand give the ground a whole new stature, with the modernistic NatWest Media Centre providing an extraordinary, yet challenging contrast to the unchanging facade of the great pavilion at the other end.

It would be a comfort for the Members and the administrators of M.C.C., amongst whom I now sit, to pat ourselves on the back and view the brand new aspect of the ground as a job well done. Just pay off the debt incurred and turn our thoughts to watching great games at our leisure for the foreseeable future. But as we all know, modern life is not like that – if indeed it ever was.

My experience is that our overall expectations of what life should offer are always on the increase. For instance, to quote my other sport, the playing standards of golf courses have improved immeasurably as have the clubhouse facilities, shower rooms etc. I was lucky enough to attend the 150th anniversary celebrations at Prestwick Golf Club last week where literally hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent to give it a five-star feeling of comfort inside, even when the wind and rain outside still has its way of reminding players that not all of life has changed.

Lord's Cricket Ground, always in the forefront of the nation's cricketing affairs, deserves nothing less than the same approach. Nobody wants to see this great ground go the way of Wembley, which, despite its history and unique atmosphere, failed to move with the times and was gradually overtaken by events.

The pavilion itself is a key part of the heritage and needs as full a face-lift as funds will allow. The playing area, despite the most sophisticated covering arrangements, remains vulnerable to the least downpour, because it is made of solid London clay. Keeping it playable is extremely labour intensive, even with the technological help of the weird and wonderful hover cover, and it is a level of manpower which it is only realistic to provide for the very big occasions. Modern re-surfacing methods are now available which would ensure that any rain was immediately sucked under, rather being allowed to run over the top with inevitable ponding. There is much to do.

With an increasing number of major matches, time out for pitch preparation grows accordingly. Sadly, it means that demands from the whole world of recreational cricket to have their one day of a lifetime playing at Lord's cannot often be met. An attractive solution lies with the introduction of drop-in pitches, prepared at the Nursery end or even off-site altogether. Already pioneered successfully in Australia and New Zealand, our otherwise unreliable climate can be depended upon to present a few problems that will need to be overcome. But the prospect of more cricket at ‘headquarters’ means that this is an innovation that we simply cannot ignore.

Finally there is the matter of floodlighting. For all their popular appeal, there will be a continuing debate about the future of day-night matches as long as sides batting second seem virtually friendless when it comes to predicting the outcome. However, there seem to be no such doubts - certainly not in the corridors and committee rooms of the ICC - about the merits of additional lighting being used to avoid the players trooping off on a gloomy day in the middle of an exciting Test. Every avenue should be explored to make this a possibility.

All of this is not news to the 18,000 members who are committed to the idea of maintaining Lord's as the very best of grounds as well as being the most prestigious. They may be not quite so enthusiastic about the financial implications where an increase in subscriptions is very much on the cards! Whatever that increase may be, there is little doubt that in terms of comparative value for money, M.C.C membership is still to the forefront. Season tickets to modest football clubs cost more whilst plain fitness emporiums and social clubs, let alone golf clubs are in another league altogether.

I just hope that my long association with Lord's will continue in such a way that I can continue to be genuinely proud of the way it changes with the times. It is not only the fabric of the place that is changing for the better. The whole idea of the private club with a public role is being re-visited with a number of pure cricketing initiatives on hand - on umpiring and the Spirit of the Game, for example - which can only benefit cricket both here at home and world-wide. If everyone can take a leap of faith, I believe they will live to enjoy the fruits of their actions with M.C.C. and Lord's at the head of affairs as never before.

Trackbacks

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as Linear | Threaded

No comments

The author does not allow comments to this entry

Add Comment

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
Standard emoticons like :-) and ;-) are converted to images.
To leave a comment you must approve it via e-mail, which will be sent to your address after submission.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

Form options