The Ashes 2013: Old Trafford through the years

The history of Manchester is encompassed in its change from a minor Lancastrain township into the pre-eminent industrial metropolis of the United Kingdom in the 19^th century – when it began expanding at an astonishing rate as a part of the process of urbanization brought on by the boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.

Thinking of Manchester, football is the first thing that springs to mind thanks to the exploits of the most decorated and followed club in the world – three-time European champions Manchester United. Then there are also the achievements of their local rivals Manchester City, who won the Premier League in 2012 after Sheikh Mansour took over.

However, United technically reside outside the city of Manchester boundaries – in the borough of Trafford, part of Greater Manchester.

Within pie-throwing distance from the over-reaching spidery arms of the Theatre of Dreams lies the Old Trafford cricket ground. This was originally home to the Manchester Cricket Club and later home of Lancashire County Cricket club upon its formation in 1864. Built in 1856, the ground is on Talbot Road, Stretford.

The Old Trafford cricket ground isn’t a pretty place, though it is in every measure steeped in history. The story of English Test cricket is bound in the story of Old Trafford. After all, it is the venue were Test cricket was played even before Lord’s.

Old Trafford first staged Test cricket in 1884 when England played host to Australia. Since its inception it has remained a special venue with its rich history. Although ostracized for its old-fashioned sticky wicket, it has remained as a part of the cricketing calendar for over 120 years.

It was guaranteed a place in cricket’s eternal hall of fame when the permanently understated Jim Laker destroyed Australia in 1956, with match figures of 19 for 90. Many Ashes moments like Shane Warne’s “ball of the century” against Mike Gatting and more recently the tense Ashes Test in 2005, when more than 20,000 fans had to be turned away due to tickets being sold out, have been witnessed here. It was in these 22 yards where a wisp of a boy called Sachin Tendulkar also chalked up his first Test hundred.

While more than a century old, the ground had never been reticent about showing its age to those who came to see history made, but the ravages of time became increasingly difficult to mask. By the end of the millennium, the stands had become weak and the infrastructure quite literally had started to crumble. It was clear in 2009 when it lost the bid to host the Ashes, that a radical change was needed for the ground to retain its Test status.

The redevelopment process was crammed with spiralling complexities, and beset by lengthy and expensive legal battles with competing business interests. The club came close to bankruptcy before being bailed out by Tesco and Emirates.In the first and the most poignant stage of development, the square was rotated 90 degrees. The Old Trafford pitches have always lain east to west. This meant that with the sun setting over the old hospitality boxes at the Stretford End, those in the middle were left fumbling blindly.

Keeping in mind the allure of the stadium, the architects had kept the two Victorian turrets but removed the clunky post-war extensions, adding two stories to the top. The point is that an entertainment and events venue was designed and purpose-built to an extremely high specification. A capacity for up to 1,000 seated guests and the flexibility to cater to a wide range of events, would offer guests exceptional standards of hospitality in a setting which affords unrivalled views of the famous Old Trafford pitch. Counterbalancing it was the magnificent £8 million Players and Media Centre on the opposite side of the ground.

So by 2012, this rickety, rather ugly old dear of a ground with its history, homely hanging baskets and friendly staff, had been smartened up and at last was constructed logically and gracefully. The results showed when it won the rights to host the third Ashes Test in the summer of 2013 – in a spanking new ground boasting facilities that could rival those in any other stadium in the world.

The Tests to be hosted this summer would be a fitting reward for Lancashire County Club. The ground would be a legacy that ought to be recognized and cherished by generations of visitors to come. Cricket will come home again welcomed by banners emblazoned with the words, ‘New era. Old Enemy’.