Truly a game for the ages

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The MCC got the birthday party it wanted.

Full of famous names, their match against the Rest of the World was a huge success as measured not by the seven-wicket win, but by the full house who enjoyed a full day of entertainment.

Sadly they were robbed of one of the main events, namely the bowling of Shane Warne to his old foes Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, but otherwise they got what they wanted.

The problem with this sort of exhibition match is that it soon becomes apparent that it is just an exhibition match.

There were the odd flashes of brilliance from the old heroes such as Sachin’s crisp straight drive off the bowling of Peter Siddle, but these were few and far between.

The real quality came from those who still play and train day in and day out at the highest level.

How great it was that Aaron Finch took no prisoners in his 181 not out that won the game.

And how brilliant that Saeed Ajmal had to be taken off before he did anymore damage than the four wickets he had taken for nine runs from his first four overs.

If this had been a real game of cricket, Ajmal’s captain would have let him bowl the side out inside 20 overs and get everyone home nice and early.

Sachin could never have done such a thing and quite rightly turned to others to allow the innings to get back on track which it did thanks to Yuvraj Singh’s 132.

The actual result and the performance of this collection of players just didn’t matter.

It was about seeing the greatest hits one more time, but rather than the reforming of a great band it was a series of karaoke style performances from each lead singer.

It was good in parts, but just not the same. And of course that is because the game didn’t matter and there was no pressure.

The ultimate truth of an exhibition game is this.

The thing of beauty that is a Brian Lara cover drive doesn’t get its sparkle from the high backlift, or the flourish above the shoulder once it has been hit.

It gets its special place in our minds because it comes out in the most incredible of circumstances. Like when he is taking a struggling West Indies side to an outrageous victory over the great Australian team.

To be able to play a shot so glorious and so picture perfect when the pressure would be intolerable on anyone else is what makes it truly special and what makes Lara one of the greatest of all time.

So when he slaps Paul Collingwood to the boundary for four at 45 years of age, we are acknowledging and applauding what he used to be able to do, not what he is doing now – as the outside edge to the same Collingwood dobbers later in the over proved.

Even though the game itself was meaningless and spectators knew they weren’t really watching proper sport, it was still an event and a match to enjoy and it is the sort of occasion that Lord’s hosts better than any other ground.

The call in a game like this one is for ‘Champagne Cricket’ and only at Lord’s is a fine leg fielder in more danger from a flying champagne cork than from a stream of expletives.

Talking of which, did you hear the one about the former England captain who rather rudely slagged off another former England captain whilst on commentary? No?

Oh well neither had anyone at Lord’s, but that didn’t stop it from being the talk of the media centre and the basis of many a column inch in the Sunday newspapers.

There is no real need to go into the details in this blog, but suffice to say that English cricket has become a bona fide soap opera and there are very few people if any covering themselves in glory.

Anyway, back to the cricket and the brief moments of joy that so many thousands came to see.

They came to see a Brian Lara cover drive for four and they saw it.

They came to see Adam Gilchrist flash the fastest bowler over point for four and they saw it.

And if it wasn’t for Brett Lee’s beaming of Warne they would have seen him too. Instead the Aussie spinner will be forced to be more tentative in his gambling exploits since his right hand will be in a cast for weeks.

They got to see Sachin score 44 pretty classy runs and show respectful appreciation of his sublime talent and mind-boggling career.

If nothing else it gave cricket fans in England their chance to say thank you and goodbye to Sachin, Brian, Adam, Rahul and Shane.

They were the five unquestioned greats of the game who are retired from cricket and will never grace the famous old ground in a high-profile fixture ever again.

This famous five would make it into every composite team of the past 25 years. Their contribution has been immense.

So while Finch’s 181 provided plenty of entertainment on the day, it didn’t even scratch the surface on what these players have given before it, and that is what the day was really about.