Cloud is hanging over the England revival

David Lloyd13 April 2012

Mick Hunt had two unexpected visitors watching his every move yesterday as he tried to prevent the Lord's outfield from becoming a great lake.

A pair of Canada geese looked perfectly at home paddling through the rivers of rainwater running down cricket's most famous slope.

"We're used to seeing ducks here from time to time," said head groundsman Hunt.

And he didn't necessarily mean batsmen departing without so much as a single to their name.

"But these geese are newcomers. I just hope it's not a bad omen for the season," he said.

Hunt, who has worked, boy and man, at Lord's for more than 30 years, chose his word carefully. Season, not summer, you note.

There was some cricket at Lord's nearly a fortnight ago when Middlesex were able to launch their CricInfo Championship campaign against Worcestershire. But since then, this elegant corner of London - like most of the south of England - has become sodden to the point of saturation.

Yesterday's weather was so grim that if Hunt hadn't laughed at the sight of those two geese he would probably have cried.

The birds could have told him he was fighting an unfair battle. Every gallon of water Hunt collected with his motorised squeegee contraption was replaced from above before he emptied it down the nearest drain.

When a clap of thunder mocked his efforts still further it was time to take a break. Not for long, though, because - believe it or not - England's first Test of the summer, against Pakistan, is due to start at Lord's a fortnight today.

"Thankfully, we've been able to keep the pitches basically dry and, in fact, the whole square is not too bad," said Hunt. "But you do worry about the First Test because time is getting short and we are behind where we would like to be with our preparations.

"I keep thinking the weather is bound to take a turn for the better. But I've been thinking that for several months and nothing has changed yet.

"I believe we've now had the wettest 12-month period since records began. I've never seen it worse in my 30-odd years at Lord's and I can't recall a spell of three completely dry days since the middle of September.

"Basically, the ground cannot absorb any more water. The pores in the soil are full so nothing percolates through and any fresh rain has nowhere to go so it just lays on top of the grass.

"There is still plenty of time to turn things around so far as the Lord's Test against Australia, in mid-July, is concerned. But we could do with some big help from the weather before the Pakistan match."

With England playing seven Tests every summer, instead of the five or six that used to suffice in years gone by, and also staging a 10-match triangular one-day series, fixture planners are trying to force a quart into a pint pot. In future, they could consider delaying the start of the international season and extending it beyond late August.

However, given the nature of sod's law that would probably guarantee a glorious May and a rain-soaked September.

A year ago, despite another generally miserable spring, Hunt and his colleagues produced a perfectly acceptable pitch for the mid-May Lord's Test with Zimbabwe.

"The umpires rated that wicket 'good' and gave it a high mark for pace," said Hunt. "We were pleased with that. But we've had even more rain this year than last, so it is an anxious time for everyone."

Middlesex were hoping to play a Benson & Hedges Cup game against Kent at Lord's today but the chances of it starting, never mind finishing, seemed remote by last night.

Not one match in the Southern group of that limited-overs competition has been completed to date, although counties in the Midlands and North have had more luck with the weather. The B&H Cup is a case in point when it comes to not knowing what to do for the best. Last year, the early matches were scheduled for April - and Middlesex endured four abandonments before finally getting through a fixture.

Consequently, the counties asked for a later start this time . . . and now May is laughing in the faces of at least some of them.

To put it simply, the British weather is too unreliable to make cricket planning anything other than an inexact science. Mind you, there have been some unexpected successes along the way.

The England and Wales Cricket Board were widely ridiculed for deciding to start the 1999 World Cup in May.

But, whether by luck or good judgement, they finished with satisfied smiles after barely a single match in the tournament suffered from rain interference.

Given a bit of good fortune the weather at Lord's a fortnight from now will be glorious, the old ground will look a picture and a full-house crowd will enjoy an epic battle between England and Pakistan.

For the moment, though, spare a thought for Hunt and his staff as they try to persuade those geese to take up residence elsewhere.

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