It surely is the best vantage point to watch cricket. Straight behind the bowler?s arm at the home of cricket with the best of cricketers and cricket brains from round the world in the seats beside you. The whole thing is an experience to cherish and one that keeps getting better with every tour.
The two elevators that take you up to the JP Morgan media centre at Lord?s are like the ground itself?typical 19th century, taking almost three whole minutes to go up a single floor. It is as if someone is pulling the chain from above to get the elevator to move up! If the elevators are 19th century, they open up to a really post-modern media centre, a piece of architecture that has won many awards since it became an integral part of Lord?s before the 1999 World Cup. Recently renamed the JP Morgan media centre it has a coffee/dining area to start with before you enter the real press box. And on match days the coffee area is just the place to be in.
For example, when Zaheer Khan was limping off with his hamstring strain on Day 1 of the Test match, you could hear Steve Waugh stand next to you and say it was a huge blow for India. Ravi Shastri, standing for his turn to sip into his tenth cup of black coffee, concurred immediately. ?Where are the 20 wickets going to come from?? asked Shastri. The conversation moved forward when Mark Nicholas arrived on the scene. ?If Zaheer is indeed out for the series, who do they bring in as replacement?? queried Mark. Just then I saw Sourav Ganguly walk down the stairs from the upper deck to join in the conversation. On seeing him, Steve Waugh suggested rather seriously that India was missing his bowling skills more than his batting. Perhaps he was right.
Back in 2007, in the last series between these two countries in the UK, it was Ganguly who picked up the first English wicket at Lord?s with his seamers with a ball that nipped back in. Ganguly, slightly embarrassed, laughed away the suggestion, saying, ?I only remember my batting and hardly ever think of what I have done with the ball.?
The best part of the conversation was, however, yet to come. With the very next rain delay, Sky Sports, the host broadcaster in the UK, switched to showing the Natwest trophy final from 2002, forever etched in Indian memories because of Sourav Ganguly?s shirt waving episode from the Lord?s balcony. Never have I watched the shirt-waving scenes with Sourav himself available for comment. Nor has Sourav watched them in such elite company as at Lord?s with Steve Waugh, Geoffrey Boycott, Mark Nicholas and Ravi Shastri intently watching his actions on television.
Just as the Indians scampered the final two runs and the camera caught up with a rather animated and bare-bodied Sourav Ganguly on the balcony, the Sourav Ganguly of 2011 waved off these memories with a rather sheepish smile. On being asked if he is embarrassed seeing these scenes over and over again, he was rather candid in saying, ?When I had first seen the footage on television I felt rather embarrassed. Now I am used to it. But if you ask me I?d certainly not want to revisit them!?
For newspaper reporters covering a game at Lord?s, the setting could not get better. Forever in need of quotes they have a ready pool of talent at hand to dip into. Simply by overhearing a conversation you could have your story set up for you. After all, it is the home of cricket and even the greats of the game don?t want to give it a miss.
Finally, the crowd too gets their share of glory. Each of the former greats of the game are confronted with masses of ardent admirers just as they step out of the elevator on the way out and more often than not oblige fans with autographs or with a smile for a must-keep photograph. It is a day well spent, with plenty of memories to keep and pass on for the future.
The writer is a sports historian