Saturday, Jun 08, 2013
Birmingham: Reporting from a venue which is over 100 years old is a special feeling. The first Test match played here was way back in 1902, where like Saturday’s clash, England and Australia were at war.
Every cricket playing nation’s fans have something to be proud about Edgbaston.
Indians who reside here speak with pride that K.S. Ranjitsinhji, the Indian prince played for England in that 1902 Test match, while for the West Indies fans it is Brian Lara’s marathon knock in 1994.
It was here that he hit the unbeaten 501 while playing for Warwickshire against Durham, the highest score in first class cricket.
Many among the volunteers here were witness to that knock. It seems Durham wicketkeeper Chris Scott dropped Lara on 18 and then turned to the slips and said: “I suppose he’ll get a hundred now.” Lara went on to score not one but five hundreds!
The venue has a new press box that offers a spectacular view of the whole ground as well as the city. From any position, one gets the feeling that the match is being played right under your nose. The stadium also offers a lovely view of the expensive penthouse apartments around. The prim terraced houses make the whole surrounding colourful.
For English fans, it is from this very ground that the English team began their journey to the top in 2011 after their bad patch in world cricket. The man who helped England clinch the No.1 ranking is their captain today and Alastair Cook cracked 294 runs in that match against India here.
English fans enjoy watching a contest against Australia here mainly because all contests here between the two countries have been keenly fought. In 2005, when Australia lost to England by two runs in the second Test of the 2005 Ashes series, it became the closest match ever in the history of the Ashes series.
The receptionist at my hotel was born here, and takes great pride in talking about the city and urges me every day to visit its historic places.
“Don’t you go anywhere other than cricket stadiums?” she asked. “It was here that the Cadbury’s chocolate was founded almost 200 years ago,” she informed me.
It is not for Cadbury’s alone that this place stands tall, but for many other sports too.
Lawn tennis was first played here 100 years ago while the football referees’ whistles were manufactured in Birmingham. It’s no wonder then that Birmingham is also home to three of the oldest English football clubs - Aston Villa, Birmingham City and the nearby West Bromwich Albion.
By K.R. Nayar Chief Cricket Writer
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
