Tour Diary

25-Feb-2013

For most travellers, Zimbabwe has the same fascination as a car crash - it looks interesting from afar but there's enough about it that says, "Don't get too close." Tales of power cuts, food shortages, communication problems, and the more serious violations of human rights and restrictions on personal freedom, make the warm sunshine and wide open spaces seem avoidable rather than appealing.

A few years ago this was certainly the case. Locals recount tales of getting used to drinking black coffee or tea, not because they liked it, but because there simply wasn't any milk. Or being unable to drive anywhere at night, because without any streetlights and potholes lying like landmines in the dark, it was just too dangerous to do so.

Thankfully, Zimbabwe is not such a treacherous place anymore. Last night, the only thing not available in one of the local restaurants was oysters. "But we have the fresh Scottish salmon, which was flown in today," the manager informed us. Can't complain about that.

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County Ground economics

When the Indians walk into the centre of the County Ground in Northampton, they won't be surprised to see themselves surrounded by advertising hoardings

Sharda Ugra and Nagraj Gollapudi

25-Feb-2013

When the Indians walk into the centre of the County Ground in Northampton, they won't be surprised to see themselves surrounded by advertising hoardings. They are India, the rock-stars of cricket, the centre of the sport's economy. Except that here, the brand names around them are not multi-national giants falling into the their favourite big-event sponsor slots - mobile phone, fizzy drink, apparel, electronic giants. The hoardings are an expression of cricket's micro-economy, the engine which drives the grassroots county game in England, where local loyalties are deep-rooted, investments and sponsorships are hard-earned and therefore must be carefully spent.

Along with the ECB's major national sponsors and a large regional steel merchant, the County Ground is ringed by the names of a local glazier, jeweller, video production company, coach hire service and a brewery that manufacturers a famous ale called the Old Speckled Hen.

In an economy trying to stay buoyant, CEO Mark Tagg says, the first hits to the bottomline come from hospitality cuts, so there is some fierce paddling across all smaller counties to stay afloat.

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Hospitable Harare

One of the ways Zimbabwe can continue rebuilding its economy is by starting colleges for people interested in the service industry

Firdose Moonda

25-Feb-2013

One of the ways Zimbabwe can continue rebuilding its economy is by starting colleges for people interested in the service industry. Zimbabwean waiters, bartenders, receptionists and hotel desk staff are friendly, approachable and helpful, without being over-eager, aggressive or desperate to sell.

Take the group that works at the Portuguese establishment Coimbra, who received a group of hungry cricket journalists last night, interested in something more meaty than just a good story. They happily let us in, with no reservation, even though the two rooms were full and when we complained that the table we had was too close to the door, they moved us further inside. They served peri-peri chicken and ice-cream long after everyone else had left and never gave that uneasy feeling that sometimes floats around a room when the restaurateurs want the patrons to leave.

Or the man working at the Bronte Hotel and has been doing so for almost a decade, and has now been promoted to a manager of the breakfast area. He remembered a guest he had served years ago, asked how he was, and personally offered to ensure his hot meal was adequately prepared, because the buffet food may have been too cold. The steaming scrambled eggs arrived a little later, to be enjoyed while taking in the view of the hotel's stunning garden.

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Mugabe's house and tales of inflation

My trip to Zimbabwe started ominously. Air Zimbabwe was grounded the day before my scheduled flight because of a pilots' strike.

Firdose Moonda

25-Feb-2013

My trip to Zimbabwe started ominously. Air Zimbabwe was grounded the day before my scheduled flight because of a pilots' strike. They promised to "try" to put passengers on another flight but South African Airways only had seven seats available on their Harare-bound plane. I had no choice but to buy one, with blind faith that Air Zimbabwe would refund me.

Harare is a desirable destination this week, the cab driver, Bernard, informed me. "Lots of people have come for the cricket. We hope we win." Fair enough. He drove though the city centre. Much like inner Johannesburg, it was a ghost town at night. He pointed out a few general shops. "You can get everything in there," he said. "Before, there was nothing, not even bread. If any shop had bread, people would queue for a long time and by the time you get to the front, the price has gone up."

That was an old joke, I'd heard it, but I could tell by the seriousness of his voice that he was not trying to be funny. "Our money [Zimbabwe dollars] was so worthless, if someone had a wheelbarrow filled with money, a thief would steal it, throw all the money out and keep the wheelbarrow." Surely that one was a joke. He waited for me to laugh, then he joined in.

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The Long Room at Trent Bridge

Trent Bridge's Long Room reflects what the ground is all about: being comfortable in its own skin

Sharda Ugra and Nagraj Gollapudi

25-Feb-2013

By Sharda Ugra

Trent Bridge's Long Room reflects what the ground is all about: being comfortable in its own skin. Situated at the centre of the old iconic 1886 pavilion, the Long Room stands tucked in between the dressing rooms and the committee stand. Cricket fans recognise the pavilion from its clay-tiled (called Rosemary tiles) roof and balconies framed by hanging pots bursting with geraniums and wild flowers, under which players have often stood looking dazed, confused or delighted.

The walk towards the Long Room is through a long passage covered with framed photographs of every Nottinghamshire cricketer to play Tests for England, all 41 off them. There are black and white portraits of cricketers frozen in bowling positions or batting strokes. There's Alfred Shaw, who played in Test match No.1 and bowled its first ball; the Hardstaff team of father and son who played Tests before World War I; Harold Larwood's sitting dressed in blazer and cap, his soulful gaze lingering through the decades. Around the corner begin the colour photographs of a newer generation. The bar is crowned by a display of bats used by greats including WG Grace and Victor Trumper.

In a place replete with history and tradition, a certain set of strictures about what can and cannot be done/ worn/ allowed inside would be predicable and acceptable. Yet not only does Trent Bridge straddle generations, it accepts the passage of time. In the First World War, its pavilion was used as a military hospital, and in the second, an office used by Royal Mail to sort out letters.

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Perils of the premature tweet

This is the reason I don't like Twitter, at least not on a day like today. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief, had announced that Lord's might host a 'timeless' Test to determine the inaugural World Test champion in 2013

Sharda Ugra and Nagraj Gollapudi

25-Feb-2013

Having filed the Lorgat report, I thought of walking around Lord's, a ground not as imposing as the MCG or even the Gabba. At Lord's, everything is in its appropriate place. Though I had been here many times, most recently when the spot-fixing scandal broke in 2010, I wanted to get reacquainted with the ground.

As I was about to leave the Pod (pressbox), I read a tweet from Yuvraj Singh. Soon after the Indian team's arrival in London from Taunton, he had posted two messages at 3.00 pm. "I'll be there at the HMV store in Oxford Street, London for an hour from 5.30pm; your chance to get the official world cup DVD signed by me," he said. "I'll be signing the DVD only, so no other material for signing pls. See you there!"

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The man who made Garner run up a hill

Clive Lloyd is an angry man

Sriram Veera

25-Feb-2013

Clive Lloyd is an angry man. It's 1983, soon after Lloyd's West Indies thrashed India in India to avenge their World Cup final loss, and the picture of the touring team at the Taj Mahal is yet to arrive. The Indian photographer had delayed the delivery. The pictures finally arrive. The players are framed by the beautiful white-marble monument but Lloyd is still angry. One man, an integral part of the whole set-up, is missing from the picture. "Sir, there was this one white man in all the pictures. I had to cut him out. Hence the delay," the photographer tells Lloyd.

Dennis Waight laughs loudly as he recounts the story. He was that white man. Waight was the famous Australian trainer and physiotherapist who worked with the West Indies team for 23 years, most of it during its glorious reign at the top of world cricket. He features in the documentary Fire in Babylon and has an entire chapter dedicated to him in Michael Holding's book.

His work with West Indies is something Waight is immensely proud of. Back then, Lloyd let Waight run the show and even used him to fire up his bowlers. Waight talks about one such instance. "At Adelaide, we needed to take six wickets and then chase on the last day. Lloydy said, 'Let's give it a go … it's only a short day, can you make these blokes fire? Make them angry.' At Adelaide, behind the nets there is a hill with a big statue on top of it. For half an hour before the start of play I made the players run up and down. They weren't happy; Croft, Holding, Roberts and Garner were hopping mad and they went out and bowled like fire. Bird [Joel Garner] was the worst, grunting and groaning. Lloyd told him, 'you are whinging the most, take the first ball'. He got four wickets in a short time, and we chased 236 in 61 overs."

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Rowe apologises for rebel tour as Jamaica honours him

Celebration and remorse were both in the air

Sriram Veera

25-Feb-2013

Celebration and remorse were both in the air. And closure. In an extraordinary statement, 28 years after he was shunned for going on a rebel tour of South Africa, Lawrence Rowe apologised for going on that trip in 1983. He dubbed Monday as the "final death of that tour".

It started as a day of joy. Rowe, Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh were immortalised in the Sabina Park stadium during the lunch break of the first Test between West Indies and India. The two ends were named after Holding - his wife was there for the unveiling - and Walsh, while Rowe's name was attached to the pavilion.

Rowe smiled and Walsh even allowed himself a laugh before Rowe read out his statement of apology. "About 28 years ago, a team of West Indies cricketers toured South Africa. At that time South Africa was banned for the apartheid regime. That tour and other such tours were grouped together as rebel tours. It was organised and conducted without the approval of West Indies' cricket board. Such tours were in fact outlawed by cricket boards over the world, by governments including the government of Jamaica and by other international organisations like the United Nations. Understandably, that tour upset the people of Jamaica. Today I sincerely apologise to the cricketing fraternity of Jamaica, the Caribbean and the rest of the world."

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Meet the other Richards

The story dates back nearly 50 years

Sriram Veera

25-Feb-2013

The story dates back nearly 50 years. Two boys were lying in bed, about to sleep, when the older of the two wrapped his arms around a cricket bat and told his younger brother, Mervin: "I wish they would one day pay us to play cricket".

People who watched the brothers bat as teenagers still say Mervin Richards was the more stylish of the two with more finesse. "There were some people who would rather see me play," Mervin, now 57 years old, says. "I was bit like Laxman or Azharuddin, wristy, you know."

He is now the director of sports in the Ministry of Sports in Antigua. His brother, older to him by a year, is Viv Richards, the king of cricket. As Mervin tells their tale, you get the sense of how Viv grew to be a champion batsman, who was eventually knighted.

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All quiet at the historic ARG

Two tube lights lit up an empty stand at the far end

Sriram Veera

25-Feb-2013

Two tube lights lit up an empty stand at the far end. An empty beer bottle lies sunken on the corridor leading to the players' dressing room. The grass is growing wildly in patches in the middle and a bare manual scoreboard hangs at one corner. International cricket has moved to swanky new Viv Richards Stadium and the historic Antigua Recreation Ground, where Viv Richards made the fastest Test hundred and Brian Lara piled up his world records, is slowly dying.

Cartwright Ireland, the security supervisor, is slumped on a chair outside the corrugated gates. He sits alone in near darkness. For 11 years he has opened the gate in the morning and locked it in the night. For "Corty" this night is yet another night of guarding nothingness. Nostalgia has a charming way of warming you up on solitary nights. "I was standing here when Garry Sobers walked out to greet Lara after he made his 375." The place he points out is just outside the gate to the playing field but inside the complex. To its left is the famous Double Decker party stand, a two-tiered structure, where that famous cheerleader Laban 'Gravy' Benjamin would orchestrate revelries to the music of the DJ 'Chickie'. When Richards blazed away during that ton against England, Chickie played, "Captain, the Ship is Sinking". One's not sure what the England captain David Gower thought of it. Chickie has moved on to the new stadium but Gravy retired along with ARG.

The 'Rec', as the ARG was called, looks ramshackle, ignored and left to bleed to death by the administrators. If you have watched a game here you can understand why Richards described it thus: "It's small, intimate and there is something very special about the whole place. I don't think you will see anything like it again anywhere in the world."

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