Hold that stage!
Our excitement ahead of the The Hundred finals day was surely the fact that we would see Ella Eyre perform. After all, neither of the London teams had qualified for either of the finals, so we were really attending as neutrals, cricket-wise.
Contrast that with the extraordinary goings on in the 50 over county competition this year, in which Middlesex had qualified for a home semi-final – getting to that stage of a “List A” competition for the first time in 36 years.
Why didn’t you see that coming when you bought me a ticket for The Hundred Finals Day in early March?…
…asked Janie (aka Daisy)- a question to which no answer came to mind. I probably should have said:
We’ve seen Middlesex play Durham at Radlett before…with predictably hilarious results…
…but I didn’t say that.
We toyed with the idea of Coxing and Boxing between Radlett and Lord’s, before bowing to the inevitable and conceding that our planned trip to the Ella Eyre concert was our fate. After all, Daisy had been planning her break dancing routines (or rather her ways of saying no to the suggestion that she try break dancing routines) ever since I showed her the following music video – in particular the dancing that starts about a minute in:
Thus, we played tennis in the morning, freshened up (while keeping an eye on the Radlett score of course) and then headed to Lord’s.
I thought a 13:30 arrival would allow us a great choice of seating in the Pavilion, but no longer is that so on The Hundred finals day. The families and guests which comprises much of the audience for this event are getting in earlier and earlier to grab the front terrace, including death row which used to be our dance floor.
We retreated to the sun deck at the top of the pavilion, which is, in any case, Daisy’s favourite spot. We were soon joined by a gentleman with a familiar-sounding voice who turned out to be an actor who was wondering what the Middlesex score might be.
We spent the women’s match chatting and watching a bit of the live cricket and utterly forgetting to take pictures. In truth the match was a one-sided damp squib – see details here if you wish. That was a bit of a shame, as our experience tells us that the women’s match is often a lot closer than the men’ s.
But we needn’t have worried at that stage of the day, as the Middlesex v Durham match seemed poised at that juncture, while the Ella Eyre concert was being set up.
Then Middlesex lost a lot of wickets at Radlett and I foolishly mentioned, not only that Middlesex were seven down, but also break dancing, to the actor gentleman. Disappointed at what he assumed to be Middlesex’s demise, and the onset of some music he wouldn’t much like, the gentleman made his excuses and departed.
Daisy and I decided to go downstairs and get “in amongst it” for the start of the Ella Eyre.
The gig started with a slow number and the backing singers, musicians and dancers, uniformly strangely clad in an almost funereal mode.
Ella could be seen on the big screen singing within the pavilion. It was apparent that she would join them on the stage by coming out of the long room using the traditional cricketer’s route…although not in a traditional cricketer’s style:
Daisy took a short video of this up-beat number, Just Got Paid, which I had used as part of the due diligence briefing pack, I hasten to add:
Then we went back up top to our seats, to watch the rest of the concert. I especially liked the fact that the women players, including the defeated Sunrisers Leeds, mingled together on the outfield, sitting and watching the concert together.
It looks like one heck of an effort to stage these Finals Day Concerts, but I do think there’s something rather wonderful about them and embrace the idea that short form cricket is an entertainment event that tries to have something for all the family. It certainly means that we get a family audience for these matches, which is great to see.
By the time the concert was over and the players were getting ready for the men’s match, I glanced at my phone and saw that Middlesex were trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Indeed, they were making a very good job of dangling that “hope carrot” before my eyes.
I decided not to say anything to Daisy about the Middlesex match at that juncture, but I suppose she couldn’t help but notice that I was showing surprisingly little interest in the early stages goings on at Lord’s.
What’s up?
…asked Daisy. It seemed foolish to hide the truth from her. I showed her my phone, with the current score.
Oh my goodness, we’re going to do it…
…she said.
DON’T SAY THAT!
I replied, pointing out that the eighth wicket had fallen simply because Daisy had baited the cricket gods. Yet, Daisy persisted,
I still think we’ll do it.
Of course, she was right…in the end. Here’s chapter and verse on the match we didn’t see.
Almost at once, a generous message from Yorkshire Simon:
I’m delighted for you. Middlesex have been poor at getting over the line…but nothing like as bad as Yorkshire.
I didn’t dare tell him we were sitting at Lord’s watching The Hundred.
Anyway, Daisy and I sat out the rest of the Trent Rockets innings, while plotting our early escape. We figured that we could be home in time to see most of the Manchester Super Giants innings on the TV while celebrating Middlesex’s win with a glass of wine. And if The Hundred final proved to be an exciting ending, we’d be able to see it from comfortable seats and not have the heave of the departing crowd to contend with.
Thus it was decided, and thus it turned out – here’s the card.
An enjoyable and exciting day on all fronts.