The biggest putting green in the world
In September 2002, spent 拢1.2m laying a new outfield at Lord鈥檚 with a drainage system of scientific precision.
Afterwards, they were assured they had a surface that could drain two inches of water in an hour.
Up until the against India on Friday, that guarantee had not been put to the test.
And when three hours of drizzle climaxed in a biblical deluge at 1230 BST 鈥 and the standing water crept like some mythical sea creature to almost every corner of the outfield 鈥 most thought that was the end of any lingering hope of play.
How wrong they were. The sun came out, and the water disappeared through the surface as though obeying some command from above.
Unbelievably, at 1350, play got under way 鈥 and as news got round ticket-holders scurried back from various local hostelries.
In case you win the lottery and are thinking of laying a new outfield at your local cricket club 鈥 this is how you copy the Lord鈥檚 system:
Dig to 20 inches deep, and place a layer of stone and then a layer of gravel. Then add lots of sand - 18 inches of it 鈥 and finally your grass goes on top of that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 basically the biggest putting green in the world,鈥 MCC director of cricket John Stephenson told me.
鈥淚t was just incredible what happened today. Not even I thought it was going to happen.鈥
Against all expectation, the magic number of 25 overs would be played in the day 鈥 meaning no refunds for ticket-holders.
Lord鈥檚 also managed to stage a full match in the earlier this season when other grounds may have struggled to do so.
鈥淭he outfield鈥檚 saved our bacon,鈥 said Stephenson. 鈥淥ver those two days it鈥檚 probably paid itself back.鈥
Inevitably, Stephenson is proud of head groundsman Mick Hunt and his willing cohorts.
Early in the day, Hunt had been seen wearing wellington boots for the first time in his 14 years in the job. He religiously wears shorts in July as well whatever the weather - that is until Friday dawned in all its bleak misery.
鈥淭hey have they done a massive amount of overtime,鈥 Stephenson said of Hunt and co.
鈥淭hey get rewarded but they would argue they should be better rewarded and I wouldn鈥檛 argue with that.
鈥淏ut they do a great job and deserve all the credit they get.鈥
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Call me a pedant... but Saturday hasn't happened yet.
I'm all for predictions into the future - as long as there's a fresh from Hogwarts guarantee attached.
There are those who would see this as another attempt at 91热爆 dishonesty... or you could just put it right to avoid the confusion.
Totally agree with the point though - awesome work by the groundstaff. Have they ever considered transferring to New Road? Or perhaps Worcestershire should transfer their ground to Lord's.
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Fantastic Work by all the Groundstaff at Lord's. When I saw the pictures at 12:30 I thoung there was no chance of any play today, but thanks th the work of the staff and the drainage system the teams were out less then 80 minutes after the deluge.
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magnificent achievement though it is - should we have expected anything less from the home of cricket?
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We could do with this system at Stradbroke Cricket Club where we use the Parish Council's playing fields, but I fear we can't afford it ! Any donors, get in touch ! Richard
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Claire
The mistake has been corrected - sorry. I guess it seemed like a new day when the sun came out!
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Great work on the part of the groundstaff and Lord's that their work and investment got play going so early, but the talk of the 'magic number of 25 overs' (which I also heard the MCC quoting on the TV) is pretty distasteful. If you've paid 拢50 minimum for a ticket and see less than a third of a day's play, it's a complete rip off, as those of us at Edgbaston for the Sri Lanka test last year will testify. The refund threshold should be at least 40 overs, preferably more.
It's time to remember that cricket is for the fans, and that they're the ones ultimately paying for all this.
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Mark (6), good point, and if, like me, you want to see a decent amount of cricket for your money, I recommend that you avoid 20/20 at headingley like the plague.
The other night, having parted with 拢30 for two tickets, we sat in the rain for two hours watching the groundstaff move the covers about.
Occasionally the PA made unintelligible grunting noises. It rained for a bit. It stopped for a bit. It rained some more.
At 7.45, we gave up to seek shelter and solace in the nearest bar. We consoled ourselves with the thought that our 拢30 would be returned upon the inevitable abandonment, hence to be used to fund a day at the seaside (should the rain ever stop)
But no, never underestimate the ruthless capitalists at YCCC. Notts and Yorks squeezed in a 30 - minute 5 over thrash in the gloom.
Pointless, meaningless, hopeless excuse for competitive cricket but "You've seen a ball bowled so we're keeping your money now, you mugs!"
(Just to put this in context, it was NZ$10 (拢3.50) to get in to see test cricket at the Basin Reserve in Wellington in March 2005).
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Well done to the guys, hopped in to town at about half 12 with the outfield looking like the river thames! was shocked to return two hours later to find that not only had play commenced, but india were 4-0 with england all out! thought i was watching a rerun!
They groundsmen should be earning more than Mr.Stephenson does!
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I was at Lord's today, and I can verify that the deluge was Biblical. But I watched in amazement as the water just drained away, and the incredibly hard-working groundstaff made sure that play began as soon as possible. All credit to them for making it happen. I remember Lord's Fridays past where people were jumping from the Tavern bar into the waist-high water, so poor was the drainage. I can only say, the investment was well worth it.
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Full credit goes to Stephenson and his colleagues for excellent play of cricket on day two. Who would have thought a game of play at lords. Well done Stephenson.
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I do not have a comment but have a question.
What difference has the new drainage system made to the bowling - does the ball bounce more? Less? Does is it swing off the wicket as much or less than before the new drainage system was installed?
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Hi Salim
The wickets themselves get replaced on a gradual basis, the outfield replacement was a separate job carried out in 2002. The answer is that the outfiels itself should not affect playing conditions for batsmen and bowlers. Recent evidence suggests the Lord's wicket gets flatter as the match wears on, and spinners rarely win matches here.
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Many thanks to Oliver Brett for answering my question.
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"Recent evidence suggests the Lord's wicket gets flatter as the match wears on, and spinners rarely win matches here."
Tell me why does any wicket "get flatter" I've played cricket most of my life and still don't really understand this. I captain my local village side and I understand (Relatively being I'm an opening bat not a bowler) about how/why the ball swings and seams. But I don't see how if you have 5 days of test cricket a wicket can "get flatter". Does it actually get flatter? or is this just a saying? Logic is surely that all things being equal as a wicket gets older it gets harder to bat on. Can someone explain to me why this is not always the case?
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