The sound of bat on ball

You feel it the moment you enter the underground, in the conversations among passengers, at the St John’s Wood station. Greybeards in MCC blazers and egg-and-bacon coloured ties discuss match possibilities, one repeats Tendulkar’s name almost every sentence. There’s a small whiteboard at the exit of the station that has a handwritten notice about ‘events at Lord’s’. Wellingdon Road, connecting the station to the ground, is choc-a-bloc: there are touts, there are those seeking tickets and there are those walking straight past.

Gray-Nicolls are using the Lord’s Test as a marketing opportunity, with one of their men actually shaping a bat outside their stall. A large audience watches and some are quite bemused to see a bat actually being made. One look around and there’s beer being served already. Who drinks before the toss?

The atmosphere is distinct from any in the world. Silence thrills. No conches, no banners, no flags. There’s nothing loud about the ground, all calm and sacrosanct. The bowler mostly runs-up in silence, the sound of bat on ball is heard distinctly. Claps begin only later. The conditions are ideal for butterflies to breed in the stomach.

The big boys - former players, politicians and other big-wigs - sit in the Pavilion end. You’re allowed in the Pavilion only if you have a jacket and a tie, we’re told. There’s a large Asian contingent at the Nursery side which is largely silent when India’s bowlers are getting hammered around. Lord Tebbitt, who suggested in the '80s that the true loyalties of a man can be gauged by the team he supported, would have smiled.

Strauss understands: “I'd like to think the British people would support the English team,” he said, “but I understand there's a lot of heritage among the English Asians, and that goes back a long way. So, they are free to make their own choices. No problems from our point of view, hopefully we can drag them round to our point of view at some point.”

Ramesh Powar spends the day practising at the Nursery Ground. Once he finishes, he's mobbed for autographs. Where can a man of his size hide? Chandu Borde arrives for the press conference at the end of the day. "Are you happy at the end of the day?" Borde answers with a big smile on his face: "Of course, very happy." Optimists of the world unite.