England v Zimbabwe, 2nd Test, Saturday 7 June 2003
Riverside, Chester-le-Street |
 Lumley Castle offers superb views of the Riverside and beyond |
After three days of rumour, counter-rumour, conjecture and gossip, the truth is out - Lumley Castle does indeed have a ghost. In an effort to put an end to the ever more ludicrous tales of Lily that distracted the team on the first day, Rob Nothman made an intrepid trip to the Castle which overlooks Durham's ground.
In brief...
Sir Ralph Lumley went away...Lily fell in love with a chap who wanted to set up his own cult...the Bishop wasn't too impressed...Lily refused to back down...the monks turned up, broke her neck and threw her down the well.
She has since roamed the rooms of the castle for
600 years. If you should ever stay at Lumley, be warned that she is more likely to appear when work is being done on the Castle.
But despite rooms changing temperature and chocolates that fly across the room instead of awaiting you on your pillow, she is described as "mischevous".
Sounds like she would fit into the TMS box perfectly on our next visit to the Riverside.
On our next visit we will be re-located in a new commentary box, but memories of this one will live long in the memory.
And it appears that tales of space and sofas at our end of the ground have not sat too well with the television fraternity. Those from the silver screen are a mixture of envious - Sky's David Houghton - and annoyed - Channel 4's Simon Hughes.
Hughes, a former Durham player, launched a scathing attack on the facilities, describing the ground as a "hotch-potch of temporary uncovered-seating and architecturally-insipid prefabs".
The team are on the look out for Edwardians, and they know where they could find one.
The Bearded Wonder turned news hound, finding out that Durham were staging a fancy dress competition on the third day.
But for the marketing men it's not your usual fare of Elvis lookalikes or blokes in dresses, which was a particular favourite on Friday.
The Riverside has gone for an Edwardian theme which was enough to send Vic Marks into an early morning fit of giggles.
"It's a pity Blowers isn't here. He'd have won it without trying," he said.
Edwardian watch:
- Aggers, 1214 BST:
"The usual wigs and silly hats are on show. The Pink Panther is at deep-extra cover with his friend Sylvester the Cat, but there are no Edwardians. It hasn't been a great success judging by the look of it." - Simon, 1236 BST:
"Do people know what Edwardian dress is? It was only a small period of time. I wouldn't know what to wear and I suspect people here don't either." - Close of play, 1648 BST:
Still no sign of an Edwardian cricket supporter.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins delighted in the fact that the boot was on the other foot for once.
CMJ has taken plenty of ribbing down the years over his notoriously poor time-keeping, and in Durham he has been grappling with a wayward satellite navigation system.
 Taking six wickets was beyond my wildest dreams |
But on Saturday morning it was Roger and Ann-Marie Johnson - parents of the man-of-the-moment Richard - who were late for a pre-arranged appointment. However, they finally ploughed their way through the crowds to describe watching their son take six wickets on debut as "absolutely fantastic".
"We haven't really taken it in," Roger said of the achievement, having endured eight years of frustration since Richard first made the international squad.
"We thought he might have had a few opportunities over that period but nothing seemed to happen. "The move to Somerset, the different coaching regime and more technology, looking at and improving his action, has given him a new lease of life."
Having been seen on television listening to TMS during Friday's play, Mr and Mrs Johnson were proffered a crisp �20 note for the blatant plug.
Victor, with his Somerset chairman's hat on, may be doubling that after the kind words on his county's set-up.
The first Test in Chester-le-Street has been given the thumbs up by everyone - although we've heard some mumblings of discontent from Dickie Bird.
The erstwhile Test umpire got stuck in a lift at the Riverside.
 Dickie Bird strikes the lbw pose |
Four people were reported to be in the lift with Dickie, a scene which was enough to send Selvs into reminiscing about one of comedian Tony Hancock's more memorable sketches. There is as yet no news on whether the fellow internees found their time with Dickie as amusing as "Hancock's Half Hour".
It shouldn't have taken them too much time to recover from their short stint in the lift, but for the ear drums it's a different story.
At least it happened before Friday's world record of lbw dismissals. Dickie would have certainly had something to say about that!
MMIX
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