England Diary: Brit Oval Steeped in History

Javed Akhtar, Arab News

The Brit Oval, the venue of the second NatWest Challenge match between India and England is steeped in history. It was here in 1880 that England played their first ever home Test match against Australia. England won by five wickets with W.G. Grace smashing 152. Since then it has become traditional for The Oval to host the final Test of the summer. During World War II, the ground was used as a prisoner of war camp. It was here in 1948 that Sir Don Bradman walked out to play his last Test innings. He needed just four runs to retire with a Test average of 100 but the crowd was stunned when he fell for a duck. The Oval is home to Surrey and the county dominated local cricket in the 1950s, winning seven titles in a row with players like Jim Laker, the Bedser twins, Tony Lock, Peter May and Ken Barrington. Adam Hollioake’s side has secured a stranglehold on the county championship in recent years with England stars Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe and Mark Butcher in the ranks. Pakistan’s, Mushtaq Ahmed, Intikhab Alam, Azhar Mahmood, Waqar Younus and Saqlain Mushtaq have played with distinction for Surrey. The Oval is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, a title owned by heir to the British throne Prince Charles. It is currently undergoing massive redevelopment project that will increase its capacity by about 5,000 to 23,000. Edgeware Road, a Mini Middle East • When walking on Edgeware Road which connects Paddington to the shopping area in Oxford Street, one cannot help but feel that one is on a street in one of the Middle East countries. Snatches of conversations in Arabic hit your ears as you walk past families taking a stroll in the evening or sitting by on the roadside. I literally bumped into a former colleague at the Arab News and was pleasantly surprised to meet an old friend. She used to be a reporter at the paper. “Where are you now?” I asked her. “Well, I am working for the Voice of America,” she told me. The Edgeware Road also has the largest collection of very good Lebanese restaurants, situated very close to each other. Lord’s Media Center • The media center at Lord’s was newly built for the 1999 World Cup is one of the best in the world. The media accreditation all other matches in England are controlled by the England and Wales Cricket Board except for Lord’s. Clare Fathers is the media in-charge for ECB and issued press passes for NatWest Challenge matches at Trent Bridge and the Brit Oval. But another Clare — Clare Skinner — is responsible for issuing passes on behalf of the Marylebone Cricket Club or MCC which are valid for the Australia-Pakistan match as well as the third NatWest Challenge match.This has made journalists run from pillar to post especially since access to the MCC office is not easy. One hopes that the ECB will arrive at some understanding with the MCC so that at least the foreign press can be issued passes from one source. Pakistan face Australia in a one-off match at Lord’s today in what is billed as the repeat of the 1999 World Cup final. And India face England tomorrow in the third and last match of the NatWest Challenge.