A Sense of Place

For me, there's only one location where I genuinely feel a sense of place - Lord's Cricket Ground.

I can still vividly remember venturing there as an impressionable 14 year old for trials with Middlesex Cricket Club as an aspiring batsman and an occasional spin-bowler.

Entering the gates on the morning of the trail was an exhilarating experience. The smell of linseed oil being liberally applied on cricket bats punctuated the atmosphere. I thought to myself yes, this is where I truly belong.

Up to that stage cricket had been my life. Every ounce of me wanted to become professional cricketer, and the cathedral of cricket, Lord's, was the place I wanted those fantasies to become reality.

I would often dream of striding elegantly across the perfectly manicured and hallowed turf of this famous cricket ground, in my creased ironed whites, bat in hand, ready to commence war with the best bowlers in the world.

It soon dawned on me that my fellow contemporaries all shared the same dream. I rapidly realised I was a Stockport United to their Barcelona. I was way out of my league. I was inconsolable for weeks.

Thirty years on, Lord's still generates a tingling sensation in the back of my spine whenever I attend a match. It’s still a place where I feel I belong – but now only as a mere spectator.