GO SPORT:A leisurely day at Lord's cricket ground is an endless piece of heaven for Jason Michael- if only he'd remembered the picnic basket
I'M A MAN of simple pleasures, and one of these is spending a day in a London suburb watching cricket at Lord's. Cricket has been described as a game that the English, not being a spiritual people, invented to give themselves some conception of eternity, and to visit the Lord's cricket ground is to make a pilgrimage to one of sport's great cathedrals.
Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Australia, is bigger, holding 100,000 compared with Lord's 30,000 or so, and South Africa's Newlands Cricket Ground, nestling below Table Mountain, may be prettier, but Lord's, with its satisfying mix of the old, new and the eccentric, trumps them all.
More than just a venue, Lord's is viewed as the spiritual home of the game. Nestled in St John's Wood since 1814, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club, the custodian of the game's laws. Lord's is also home to the Middlesex county side, where Irishmen Ed Joyce, now declared for England, and Eoin Morgan play.
Having booked tickets last winter, a group of us arrive at the ground for the Saturday of the recent five-day test match between England and South Africa. At the understated entrance, we are frisked by security guards and have our bags thoroughly searched. As befitting one of the bastions of British sport, there are lots of rules - no flags, banners, musical instruments, oversized hats or fancy dress. The good news is that any confiscated items can be collected afterwards with a receipt - pantomime-horse aficionados take note.
High in the Compton Stand, our seats have a sweeping view of the collection of mismatched stands, interrupted at one end by the historic Lord's Pavilion and at the other by the alien-looking media centre. Apparently, it's the world's first all-aluminium semi-monocoque building. I can't wait for the second one.
As well as a good view of play, the upper tier offers the potential to soak up any sun, plus a view of large replay screens - essential for finding out what happened when you weren't looking, which happens regularly.
South Africa are batting and already one man out when we arrive, but getting there on time is not that important in a five-day event - on a visit to Lord's, Groucho Marx is reputed to have remarked: "Great game, but when does it start?" - and a steady stream of people turn up throughout the morning (the last of our party surfaces for the afternoon's play).
It quickly becomes apparent that we are among the few who have not packed a picnic. Champagne corks fly overhead, seafood platters are unwrapped and cooler boxes the size of small cars are jammed in front of seats. A cheese plate shuttles back and forth along the row behind us - all day. As a friend remarks, it is like being at a baseball game, but with classier food.
After a relaxing morning amid the drone of so many people chatting, eating and drinking, the match pauses - for lunch. Beside the ground are the usual food and drink stalls, sponsors' tents and exhibition areas. There is also the not-so-usual champagne bar, a higher than average number of blazers and cravats, and the sense that some minor royals are probably misbehaving somewhere. Sitting on the grass, Cumberland sausages in hand, we feel quite at home. Even the sight of two rugby-season refugees in Munster and Ulster tops fails to break the mood.
Rain and bad light are the main threats to a day's cricket, but the afternoon slips by in a pleasant haze of cold beers, spells of sunshine and tumbling South African wickets. England's onslaught is resisted only by Ashwell Prince, who, after batting for nearly five hours, makes a century score of 101, the first black South African to do so at Lord's.
By this stage the England spin bowler Monty Panesar is delighting the home support by taking regular wickets, while team-mate Kevin Pietersen is annoying opposition supporters for being a South African playing for England (nationalities are fluid in cricket).
Panesar, in particular, has become a cult figure. He possesses the air of a man not quite believing his luck at playing international cricket and celebrates taking wickets as if being gently electrocuted.
With South Africa eventually all out, England put their opponents in to bat again, on the basis that they were pretty rubbish at it the first time round. The crowd, with an afternoon of drink and sun behind them, is far more vocal by now, although several attempts to launch the ubiquitous Mexican wave fail to ignite. Perhaps security confiscated it before it took hold.
By the end of the day's play, shortly before 5pm, England are in the ascendant. Two days later the match finishes a draw - a result that nicely sums up test cricket, often more process than result.
With sports now packaged as entertainment, and attention spans shrinking, the longer test format is threatened by shorter, more lucrative versions of the game. But to spend a day at Lord's is to see a game that retains a sense of timelessness - and, more to the point, a chance to spend time with your mates doing not much at all. If that's eternity, I could do it for a long time.
How to get to the ground - and where to stop for a pint
Getting there
• The ground is located between St John's Wood Road and Wellington Road in northwest London.
• The closest Tube stations are St John's Wood, Edgware Road, Warwick Avenue, Baker Street and Marylebone.
• Buses serving the ground include Route 13 (Trafalgar Square to Golders Green), Route 82 (Victoria to North Finchley), Route 113 (Oxford Circus to Edgware) and Route 139 (Waterloo to West Hampstead).
Tickets for Lord's
• Tickets are available through an online public ballot (www.lords.org or 00-44-20- 74321000). The ballot for next season's Ashes test series, against Australia, opens on December 1st. My one-day test match ticket cost £75 (€92), but prices vary according to games and seating. Refunds might apply if rain affects play.
Where to have a pint
• The New Inn. 2 Allitsen Road, 00-44-20-77220726, www.newinnlondon.co.uk. A little gem slightly farther from Lord's that serves excellent Thai food and has a live house band at weekends.
• Duke of York. 2 St Ann's Terrace, 00-44-20-77221933, www.thedukeofyork.com. A landmark pub dating from 1826 with a restaurant that serves not-so-traditional Moroccan-themed dishes.
• Warwick Castle. 6 Warwick Place, 00-44-20-72660921, www.capitalpubcompany.com/warwick/. A traditional hostelry in London's trendy Little Venice district that has coal fires for those days when rain stops play.
• The Robert Browning. 15 Clifton Road, Maida Vale, 00-44-20-72862732. A no-frills, airy pub run by an independent brewery that features good-value beers, outside seating front and back, and fewer people on match days.
• The Star. 38 St John's Wood Terrace, 00-44-20-77221051. An old-fashioned regulars' pub that brings a Life on Mars1970s feel to its posh street.
How to get tickets for the biggest matches on the cricket calendar
Twenty20 World Cup
• The Twenty20 World Cup takes place in England next June, when top international players will battle it out in the newest form of the game. Ireland earned a chance to test themselves against the best in this popular shorter format after they came through a tense qualifying tournament in Belfast last month. They will now face Bangladesh on June 8th and defending champions India on June 10th at Trent Bridge, in Nottingham.
• Tickets could prove hard to come by. They went on general sale in June - before Ireland qualified - and have since sold out. Additional tickets should become available closer to the event, so check the International Cricket Council website (www.icc-cricket.com) for updates.
• The bulk of Cricket Ireland's initial allocation will go to members and sponsors, but the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has indicated that it should be given more tickets in March or April of next year.
• See www.cricketlogistics. com for details of official travel agents for the event, such as UK-based company Gullivers Sports Travel (00-44-1684- 293175, www.gulliverstravel. co.uk). It will have packages available online later this month, with deals of match tickets and a night's hotel accommodation starting at £113 (about €140).
Ireland
• The Irish team will play four-day Intercontinental Cup matches in Namibia and Kenya in October, as well as a one-day series against Kenya.
• Ireland will also attempt to qualify for the next one-day World Cup in 2009. The qualifiers are due to be held in the United Arab Emirates in April, but the location or the dates could change following a meeting of the ICC next week. See www.irishcricket.org for updates.
The Ashes
• England tour cricket-mad India in November and December, but the most famous rivalry in the sport is between England and Australia. The 2005 test series was regarded as one of cricket's best ever, but Australia regained the Ashes on home soil in 2006-7. In July and August next year Australia return to England to play a five-test series, with games in London (at Lord's and the Oval), Cardiff, Birmingham (Edgbaston) and Leeds (Headingley).
• Tickets for most matches go on sale in October, when non-members can expect to pay about £75 (€92) for admission. Call the ECB Ticketline on 00-44-8705-338833 to be connected to any of the international match ground ticket offices.
• Ballots will be held in January to distribute tickets for the second test at Lord's. Online applications for the ballot can be made at www.lords.org from November. For extensive ticket information on domestic and international cricket in England, see www.ecb.co.uk.
Australia
• Tickets for Australia's Twenty20, one-day international and test matches this winter went on sale last week, with both South Africa and New Zealand due to visit the home of the world's top team between November and February.
• General admission prices start at between 20 and 50 Australian dollars (€11-29), depending on which of the seven venues is hosting the game. See www.cricket.com.au or contact Ticketmaster in Australia (00-61-1300-136122, www.ticketmaster.com.au) or Ticketek (00-61-132849, www.ticket.com.au) for further information.
Dos and don'ts
Do
• Bring a hat, sunscreen - and a raincoat.
• Comment loudly that Ed Joyce deserves a recall.
•Buy a jug of Pimm's.
Don't
• Book lower seats.
• Forget the Lord's cricketing museum.
• Invade the pitch or wear a leprechaun costume.
Go there:
•Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus.com), Ryanair (www.ryanair.com), British Airways (www.ba.com), BMI (www.flybmi.com), and Air France (www.airfrance.ie) all fly direct to various London airports from Dublin.
• Aer Lingus and Ryanair fly from Cork Airport to various airports in London.
• Ryanair flies from Shannon Airport to various airports in London.
• Easyjet (www.easyjet.com) and Aer Lingus fly from Belfast International to various airports in London.
• Aer Arann (www.aerarann.com) flies from Galway and Waterford airports to London Luton.