Whilst Charles Simeon remains my companion, the sabbatical focus for August is fun and family, with sport featuring strongly. Eldest son Andrew joined me on Wednesday 1 August for our first trip to Old Trafford Football Ground for many years to see a match in the Olympic Games tournament, between Spain and Morocco. Spain had already been eliminated, so the match didn't have the edge it might have done, and it finished as a 0-0 draw, but was more entertaining than it sounds and the Olympic experience was unique. It was good to go to a football match with a very different atmosphere from a cold Saturday afternoon in January at Elland Road, Leeds.
The next morning, though, we were off to Headingley. I have been attending Test Matches there for over 50 years. My first memory is of the summer of 1959, one of the hottest in living memory, and being taken by my aunt, who nurtured my love of cricket as a small boy, to see an England side with Cowdrey, Barrington and Trueman playing against India. The image that has stayed with me is of a member of the crowd being stretchered out suffering from sunstroke. I don't think I've ever seen that since.
Needless to say, I have a deep affection for Headingley, home of Yorkshire cricket, even though it is far from the most elegant Test Match ground in the country. It has a reputation for a pitch and atmospheric conditions that produce more than their share of dramatic cricket. Most famous is the defining moment of 'Botham's Ashes' in 1981, when England snatched victory out of almost certain defeat by Australia, thanks to the exploits of the great cricketing legend. I am ashamed of my own part on that historic day. I was a curate in Worksop and had a day off on the day when it all unfolded, certain that England would slide to defeat early in the day, I decided to stay at home and do the gardening. It's up there among the 5 worst decisions of my life, but it has provided a helpful sermon illustration on the story of Thomas, the apostle who wasn't there when it mattered.
Anyway, there is a new generation of England legends now, but they had been humiliated by a strong South Africa in the first Test in the series. Andrew and I gasped out loud when we heard England captain Andrew Strauss announce that England would bowl first when he won the toss, and didn't think much of the omission of star spin bowler, Graham Swann. Somehow, England don't seem to get Headingley. There is a long history of questionable decisions there by England selectors and captains based on misunderstanding and mistrust of the playing conditions. If they'd listened to my experience going back to 1959, they might not have got it wrong again.
Anyway, it was a good day's cricket, with only one rainstorm (that's good in this summer), and great to spend it with Andrew who shares my love of the game. In fact, he stayed with the match for two more days while I treacherously deserted it for lesser sports further south. Sadly, the rain came and had the final say, and the match was drawn.
I shall need to work some time off in May next year if I'm to see much of the next Headingley Test. Sadly, there is no Ashes match there in 2013. We have to make do with New Zealand.
He makes me lie down in green pastures..... he restores my soul.
Psalm 23:2,3
No comments:
Post a Comment