View from the Long Room is idyllic.. not so rosy for those on the outside looking in

UNIQUE SETTING BOTH A BLESSING AND A BURDEN

- Neil SQUIRES

IF ENGLISH cricket is horribly out of touch with the modern world, as the report that rinsed the entire culture of the game this week claimed, then the Lord's Long Room is Exhibit A for the prosecution.

as Populated almost entirely by middle-aged white folks in jacket and tie, it is about as diverse your average Antiques Roadshow crowd.

Under its high-chandeliered ceiling, it has the feel of a very traditional gentlemen's club, largely because its clientele are all gentlemen.

The MCC only started admitting women members 25 years ago and, what with the 29-year waiting list to join, it is taking a while for the scales to rebalance.

From the Long Room walls, portraits of the greats of yesteryear stare down from different times. Those of WG Grace, beard as long as English cricket's charge sheet, and Colin Cowdrey, who was taught to play by the family servants in India.