Twenty years at Wantage Road

posted by John Winn

Parking my car in a terraced street adjacent to The County Ground in Northampton yesterday morning I noted that in a street where there must have been upwards of 80 cars only one was flying the flag of St George. Even if some had been removed overnight after the disappointment of the defeat by Italy the support for our brave boys in this part of NN1 seemed modest. Much the same could be said for interest in Northamptonshire's championship match with Warwickshire for when umpires Lloyd and Lloyds took the field there were fewer than 150 souls in the ground, Sunday starts do not seem to have made the impact the ECB hoped for at the home of the bottom side in Division 1.

 

Northants had warmed up with a game of football: whether Northampton Town, who shared the ground until  20 years ago, warmed up with a game of cricket is not known. I had seen football at the ground as long ago as 1977 but not watched cricket until shortly before The Cobblers left in 1994, a game between Northants and Middlesex. The ground is much changed since with a cricket centre built at the football end and several new stands but to my delight the supporters' club still have their HQ in a signal box.

Apart from the gate man, who wanted £14 from me, £2 less than when I was last here two years ago, I saw no other officials in the ground. Stewarding reduced to zero allowed me to slip unchallenged into  the members' pavilion which might be a contender for the shortest long room in county cricket but an invitation to have lunch in 'The Short Room' might not prove a puller. I enjoyed the photographs dating back to the county's early days in the championship as well as images of more recent heroes like Geoff Cook and Alan Lamb.

Northants won the toss and batting first lost wickets steadily to be 141 for 6 but Newton and Hall led a recovery with the former reaching 108 by the close. By this time I was well on my way back up the M1 happy with my weekend's cricket watching and planning a return to Wantage Road in a month's time when Somerset will be the visitors and which will complete the full set of Northamptonshire against all other counties.