Tour Diary
Guns, tweets and a hair-raising cab ride
What a day
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
What a day. Opened my inbox to hear from a friend on Facebook that Shashi Tharoor, the former UN Under-Secretary to Kofi Annan and a prominent Indian diplomat, had Tweeted about me. Then I watch Daniel Vettori make history at the SSC. After the day’s play, I stand in a guard’s booth fit for two with seven security guards and a machine gun, waiting for the rain to stop. To top it all off, my evening ends with a taxi driver encouraging me to become an actor because, with my dual languages, Arnold Schwarzenegger may one day help me bridge the gap between Hollywood and Bollywood.
True story.
I attend the post-match pressers and make my way to the main gate of the SSC to get my taxi. He calls to say he’s stuck in traffic. It starts to rain. The guard at the gate beckons me to stand in his cabin and stay dry. Thing is, there are already six rather large Devcon security guards and another soldier in commies with a machine gun inside. I hesitate but the rain is getting heavier and I have a laptop, recorder and an ipod in my bag.
“Please, please come,” yells one of the Devcon – that’s like a name out of Robocop. He and another guard make way but we’re really struggling to fit in, especially me with my bag. It’s a tight squeeze if ever I saw one, and I don’t do well with machine guns in my face.
Full postFootloose on Galle Face Green
Galle Face Green, I’ll be back
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
Its 8 in the evening and I just got back from the most amazing stroll on Galle Face Green, a sea-facing promenade along the longest road in Colombo, Galle Road (which is more a boulevard actually). I’d been recommended by an old college friend to saunter down the promenade when I was here last year, but didn’t get the chance. It was definitely worth it - despite having my left foot run over by a Honda Accord - and I plan to do it again. Its one of Colombo's must-see attractions.
The view of the beach from my hotel window had been tempting me since yesterday and this evening I decided to have a walk The skyline at either ends of the beach makes for stunning viewing. Right from the Ceylon Continental and Galadari hotels, situated at the top of Colombo’s business district, to the Doric-column Old Parliament Building – now the Presidential Secretariat - and the looming World Trade Center (WTC), down to the wonderful and very colonial Galle Fort Hotel at the other end, it is a serene stretch. All the more as the sun sets and the lights from the WTC and Presidential Secretariat light up the evening and the moon sprinkles itself on the Indian Ocean.
It’s about a kilometer and a half stretch, I’m told by an elderly gentleman sitting and enjoying the salt spray of the waves lap against the concrete parapets. There is a large stone plaque overlooking the ocean that decrees: “Galle Face Walk – Commenced by Sir Henry Ward 1856. Completed 1869 and recommended to his successors in the interest of Ladies and Children of Colombo.”
The largest open space in Colombo, the sea face is literally a striking view. Down at the Galle Face Hotel end children jostle their parents to buy them cotton candy and savoury rolls and kuku paaka - coconut chicken with boiled eggs and potatoes – while vendors yell out other sweet-smelling goods and couples cozy up one concrete benches. It’s literally like a mini carnival, with the yells of the vendors and laughter of children sifting into the night sky along side the dancing fireflies. Pondering a tempting piece of barbeque chicken, I suddenly yelp in pain to look down and see that my left foot has been run over a backing-up vehicle. The driver gives me a dirty look and tries to maneuver himself out but has no luck; the tuk tuks are commanding right of way. I decided to chuck the barbeque chicken and limp back. Galle Face Green, I’ll be back. It was a real pleasure.
Full postPlease, make the music stop
Does anyone know how I can get the medley of Jerusalem , Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory out of my head
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Does anyone know how I can get the medley of Jerusalem, Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory out of my head? It must have been played a few times a day, every day, during this series. Yesterday it was on repeat as soon as Michael Hussey got out. And today it won’t leave my mind. What does “weave thy diadem” mean? That’s more confusing than Australia’s selections. Please, make the music stop. Losing the Ashes is nothing compared to this.
While it wasn’t such fun to watch the run-outs or the collapse at the end, it was special to feel the emotion of a crowd that likes nothing better than thumping Australia. The series was gripping throughout even though the teams were not that great, but the Ashes still remains the most special contest in cricket – at least to two countries.
Wound down at a dinner with some very polite and distinguished England fans. None of them teased. Most of them will be back in Australia in 18 months, so must remember to match their manners when we’re at the SCG in the first week of 2011.
Full postWhite. Indian. Perplexed expressions
Airport officials the world over must have told my story a couple times
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
Airport officials the world over must have told my story a couple times. I’m white. I have an Indian passport.
Yeah, go ahead. Read it again. White. Indian.
I’ve had some pretty interesting – and thoroughly frustrating – incidents at airports in and outside of India, often having to explain the whole story of why I have an Indian passport and even once been asked to show additional documents to prove my passport wasn’t a phony.
Seriously?
Full postThe bandwagon grows
An amazing thing happened on the way home last night
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
An amazing thing happened on the way home last night. People who hadn’t been at The Oval were talking about the cricket. As they went to their parties in Hackney and the nightclubs of Camden they were asking questions of friends and strangers on the Tube. “What’s the score?” “England are winning.” “Australia will find a way to draw this.” “How could Ponting not pick a spinner?” One guy had watched it all day at home, others had relied on the radio or internet for updates.
In my experience, this sort of public transport chit-chat is usually limited to those heading home in team colours or with ticket badges hanging from their jackets. Call it fickle or joining the bandwagon, but as a long-term watcher it was great to hear the more “normal” people being interested in a Test. Maybe it will last a day, or another 466 runs, or perhaps it will help make the game a lasting favourite here, regardless of whether England win or lose in the future.
By the way, the Australians prayers for rain haven’t been answered. It’s beautifully sunny in south London and the only white marks in the sky are the trails from the planes heading in and out of Heathrow.
Full postCricket is popular once again
The Tubes heading south on the Northern Line are crammed full of excitement and there’s a queue from Oval station to the ground
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
The Tubes heading south on the Northern Line are crammed full of excitement and there’s a queue from Oval station to the ground. There must be something exciting happening. Oh, that’s right, England are about to win the Ashes. They like cricket again here.
Still, most of the locals remain pessimistic. Excited, but horribly nervous. Adelaide 2006-07 has been mentioned a couple of times by supporters this morning. Stuart Broad was cautious talking last night and the papers haven’t claimed the win. In Australia they have reported the loss.
The reality is if England get another 100 runs today they will be safe. How the series has swung. Not the best time to be an Australian over here. Fortunately we’re off to Scotland on Wednesday.
Full postOval security outfoxed
Lord’s has a resident cat and now The Oval is home to a fox
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Lord’s has a resident cat and now The Oval is home to a fox. Not Graeme ‘Foxy’ Fowler, the former England, Lancashire and Durham batsman, but a living Basil Brush who popped in to check on the field after stumps on the opening day. It’s basically impossible to get on the playing surface unless you are wearing the fluorescent green vests of the security staff - unless you’re a fox.
With the covers on, the animal trotted out to guard the square and lay down near the practice pitches. The security men spotted the animal and let him be. Apparently he visited early in the morning as well. The Oval is almost in the centre of London so spotting any animal that is not a pigeon is rare, although some quick brown foxes have somehow managed to retain a presence in the suburbs.
Full postEngland sore and sorry
There were a few groans around England training today but not enough pain for them to turn into legitimate injury scares
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
There were a few groans around England training today but not enough pain for them to turn into legitimate injury scares. Well, not yet, anyway. First to go down was the timid looking, tough talking Stuart Broad, who tumbled awkwardly while taking a catch during fielding practice. He was helped up with a sore side and later bowled in the nets, looking more puffed than hurt when he walked up the pavilion steps at the end of the session.
The Oval was a noisy place but even all the pre-match construction and mowing was usurped when Paul Collingwood shouted the scream either of a batsman who had got out to a truly ridiculous shot or a person in serious pain. Collingwood was taking slip catches when one clipped a sore finger on his left hand and prompted the yell. He took a couple more before calling off the drill and walking away analysing the digit, but there were no anxious group huddles like there have been before the toss in the previous two Tests. Things were much quieter in the Australian camp.
Full postThe wrong Hambledon
Hambledon Cricket Club “circa 1750”, according to the club signs, is a couple of miles from the rural Hampshire village and a bit tricky to find, mainly because the directions tend to come at the turn-off and we’re too busy avoiding the on-coming
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Hambledon Cricket Club “circa 1750”, according to the club signs, is a couple of miles from the rural Hampshire village and a bit tricky to find, mainly because the directions tend to come at the turn-off and we’re too busy avoiding the on-coming traffic to notice. Sadly, there’s no game on the dome-shaped field when we arrive and the clubhouse windows are boarded off, preventing a peek at any historic memorabilia from an area which has had a significant impact on the modern game. Or so I thought.
A pint at The Bat and Ball Inn was also on the to-do list but we couldn’t find it along the narrow lanes, even though everyone says it’s right beside the ground. No reason to feel suspicious: we were miles from nowhere and there was a cricket club there called Hambledon. It couldn’t be anywhere else, could it? A day after the trip I learn there are two clubs in Hambledon and we’ve picked the wrong one. (Please don’t tell my wife, the driver, about this. She didn’t even want to go to this ground.)
Back in the 18th century the original club was a mix of well-off locals and rich visitors, and its legacy was a hefty contribution to the game’s rules. A straight bat was developed here to replace the curled ones, the width of the bat was restricted to four-and-a-quarter inches and soon they were calling for a third stump to sit in the middle. What their modern team-mates don’t do is give prominent directions to their ground.
There were four of us in the car and nobody spotted the historic site, unlike the Romsey Abbey and Winchester Cathedral, stubborn and spectacular buildings which dominate their towns in beautiful parts of the county. On the way there was a morning with Thomas the Tank Engine and some of his friends. We called it a training session.
Full postIn search of Albert Trott
I first started looking for Albert Trott’s grave in 2001
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
I first started looking for Albert Trott’s grave in 2001. I’d read a story about Trott, the Test player from the late 1800s, by the Age’s Peter Hanlon and learned he was buried in Willesden, a suburb just up the road from where I lived during my three years in London.
Trott interested me for a few reasons: he played for both Australia and England, hit a six over the pavilion at Lord’s, and killed himself, aged 41, due to ill health. He seemed like a pretty interesting guy, so during spare hours I went searching for him. I didn’t find him, but kept finding out about him.
David Frith wrote about Trott in his book By His Own Hand and the name comes up regularly in historical accounts of the game. His player profile contains many of his deeds, ranging from the unmatched to the freaky. He would have been incredible to watch in any team or era.
Having gone to a few gravesites in Willesden previously, I tried another venue on this trip: Paddington Cemetery in Willesden Lane, just down from where Trott died in Denbigh Street. Hanlon’s story gave the only tips. “A simple, white headstone – ‘A.E.Trott 1873-1914, a great cricketer, Australia, Middlesex, England.’” For 80 years the grave was unmarked, but the county eventually put up a reminder for their former player.
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