Gearing up for the Lord's Test
Lord's - So here we are again - the start of the English Test summer.
And typically it is sunny and warm today but the forecast for the first day's play against New Zealand on Thursday is for thundery showers.
But don't let that put you off as the home of cricket has the best drainage system in the world - the tells me.
"We had an almighty downpour in the Test against India last summer," a spokesman said.
"But we were back playing again in no time. Spectators coming to Lord's always know there is a prospect of play because of the great drainage system."....
England against New Zealand in truth is not box office stuff and is really a simple starter before the mouthwatering prospect of South Africa later in the summer.
It doesn't help that they have just played each other on the other side of the world and ticket sales have reflected this.
There will still be a limited number of tickets on sale on the day but the MCC spokesman ensures me it will be "near to capacity" for the first three day's play.
So there should be a crowd of well over 20,000 to witness Michael Vaughan's England take on Daniel Vettori's New Zealand.
Vaughan says England will be aiming to win in convincing fashion, even without Andrew Flintoff, and called the Kiwis a "workmanlike" team.
He admits he is under pressure to make runs with the bat and has pushed Andrew Strauss up to opener with himself dropping down to three.
Vettori is well aware of the underdog tag his side has, with two debutants and , in the team and admits "we will need to be on top of our game all of the time if we are going to be successful".
The last time England beat New Zealand at home was the catalyst to a very successful couple of years which culminated in the Ashes success in 2005 - so England fans will be hoping history repeats itself.
It may be the day before the game but Lord's has been buzzing with last-minute preparation as the caterers bring in all the beer, champagne and pies they will need while sponsors tents have also gone up.
The groundsmen have been working on the pitch and the wicket since 9am and were still going around with a lawnmower at 4pm.
And it's not just the pitch which has undergone meticulous preparation, every bit of grass around the ground has been mowed, weeds removed and flower beds packed full of red and white flowers symbolising the colours of England.
Lord's has seen many cricketing legends come and go - and there were a few here on Wednesday, the likes of and , who were attending in their capacities as members of the MCC world cricket committee.
All had fond memories of playing at the home of cricket and agreed it had a special place in their hearts.
It's now time for new legends to be made.
The excitement is building...bring it on!
Comment number 1.
At 14th May 2008, hainba wrote:Is this a blog for blogs sake?
Nice scene setting thanks but is there a point...
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Comment number 2.
At 14th May 2008, levdavidovich wrote:"England against New Zealand in truth is not box office stuff " That depends on whether or not you are a cricket fan.
Lord's will be packed full of cricket fans.
If it isn't entertaining for you then look for fun elsewhere.
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Comment number 3.
At 14th May 2008, Rvvm wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 4.
At 14th May 2008, gunnercalum2903 wrote:reading that was a severe waste of my ever shortening life
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Comment number 5.
At 15th May 2008, bonedoc wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 6.
At 15th May 2008, edbaron wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 7.
At 15th May 2008, edbaron wrote:come back aggers all is forgiven...
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Comment number 8.
At 15th May 2008, kyaw22 wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 9.
At 15th May 2008, cheeryorangetree wrote:anna,
thanks for a lovely blog, im sitting in cheltenham and cant get to lords til sunday and feel much better for reading the above. bring on the kiwis.
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Comment number 10.
At 15th May 2008, thekunning wrote:Typical. A woman writes a blog about sport and every single bloke in the country tells her to pipe down. The blog was fine, thanks.
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Comment number 11.
At 15th May 2008, lemon_goat wrote:Hi. Nothing wrong with the blog - keep it up - if people don't like it then they can go and wash their hair or some such - they are free to not read.
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Comment number 12.
At 15th May 2008, rupertornelius wrote:"Bring it on", indeed. If by 'it' you mean another home test series unavailable to view for the vast majority of the uk population, of course.
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Comment number 13.
At 15th May 2008, SingingRiver wrote:Seems a perfectly good blog to me. It's hardly going to be full of detailed ball by ball analysis when it's about the build-up rather than a day's play.
Quite what the carping comments do for us, I don't know - I trust they're more fun to write than they are to read.
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Comment number 14.
At 15th May 2008, kyaw22 wrote:Miss Thompson,
I found your article to be dull and devoid of any useful cricket information. Instead of talking about pies and lawnmowers you could, perhaps, have concentrated more on the players. I hope this is your only coverage of a Test Match this summer. Fingers crossed.
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