Notts Cricket Club deserves credit for preserving its heritage

The Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club deserves a lot of credit for preserving its heritage and legacy with a touch of class

There is a lot some cricketing venues in India can learn from their English counterparts. And if they are looking out for a classic example, they don't have to visit Lord's. The Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club will do just fine. The pavilion has an ancient look about it, but it's all about history. Photo frames of Nottingham players through the years adorn the walls ufffd Harold Larwood, Sir Garry Sobers, Clive Rice, Tim Robinson, Chris and Stuart Broad.


A series of bats used by some legendary names in world cricket on display
at the pavilion end of the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. The bats
displayed belonged to great names like Victor Trumper, W G Grace, Warren
Bardsley, Phil Mead, Patsy Hendren, W W Armstrong. The bats are displayed
below the bar which was shut at the time of shooting this image.
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The bar area has a row of bats - around 50 in number - which were used by legends of the game like Aussie Victor Trumper (which has a special gold plate), W G Grace, Warren Bardsley, Phil Mead, Patsy Hendren and W W Armstrong and the press conference room has huge frame of paintings depicting action at Trent Bridge.u00a0
The stewards at the gate are friendly too unlike some of the other venues.

At the media end, a waiting lounge is decorated with photographs of Sir Garfield Sobers, who played for Nottinghamshire in 1968. The gymnasium is called Bodyline which keeps in tune with physical activity as well as honours Harold Larwood, the Nottinghamshire pace terror who bowled Bodyline to the Australians in 1932-33.
Larwood was a miner in his younger days and migrated to Australia despite being the country's enemy due to the Bodyline controversy.

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The Indian restaurant '4550 Miles from Delhi' is a huge hit here among the players. Bang opposite the Indian team hotel, the eating joint yesterday attracted Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma. Almost everyone in the team has visited and savoured the dishes. In the menu file, there are testimonials by famous personalities.

Andrew Flintoff, the former England all-rounder seemed to like the food. His last sentence is, "Too close to Delhi." Wonder what he meant by that!
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Cricket fans gathered near the pavilion early enough to get autographs of the Indian cricket team as they made their way to the net area. They queued up without causing any disturbance as the players were only too glad to oblige the die-hards. Some of them brought with them old books and former England cricketer Derek Pringle, now a journalist, was surprised when he was asked to sign a 1986 India vs England series souvenir.

Autograph hunters were amused when Sachin Tendulkar carried several bats for practice and one of them jokingly wondered whether they would get a chance to run away with those heavy bats on his return to the pavilion.

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Nottinghamshire is hoping to see a lot of Indian supporters for Friday's Test and that includes a lot of young Indians who are studying here at the two Universities. "We will have a diverse crowd since there is a big Asian community in Nottinghamshire. India will get a lot of support here," said a local cricket official.
Chants of "Sachin, Sachin," cannot be ruled out.