Media centre window as sight screen

The Headingley sightscreen must surely be one of the most innovative ones in the world. The sight screen at the press box end is the medi...

The Headingley sightscreen must surely be one of the most innovative ones in the world. The sight screen at the press box end is the media centre8217;s window to the match! It is quite a marvel. On the ground floor, which is on the same level as the play field, is the media room which houses the e-mail, phones, televisions, refrigerators, etc. The huge room has a small stair which leads to the press box on the first floor.

About 80 desked journalists, each with a shaded lamp that lights up his desk alone, peers through a one-way glass into the ground. The whole front portion of the media centre ground and 1st floor is made of non-reflecting glass. Those inside can see through the glass wall and watch the match unhindered, but from the outside it resembles any other sight screen. For one-day matches when a black sight screen is required, a black netlon film is taped on to the glass.

The media centre, quite simply, offers the best view of the match. Indian grounds would never permit such a sight screen. Justimagine the revenue loss from sight screen advertisements if they go for such a novelty!

Testing time

Headingley8217;s media centre may be a great place, but the food dished out is horrible. Cold ham, turkey and salmon sandwiches are the staple diet in the press box. One Pakistani journalist, obviously fed up with the poor fare served each day, said 8220;no wonder Europeans have testicular cancer. Studies have revealed it is directly linked to such cold food.8221; He told the British journalists, 8220;we Asians may have other problems, but we never get testicular cancer. You better stop eating this unhealthy crap.8221; The Indian players revealed that during the match against England, a number of English players ignored their own food at the lunch break and came to the Indian side and tucked into the curry and spice. 8220;Allan Mullaly showed the way and the others too came over and polished off the Indian dishes,8221; they said.

Running for cover

Rushing off to Headingley early on a cold, wet Sunday morninghas few joys. The King8217;s Cross station in London was teeming with Zimbawean and New Zealand supporters, all tanking up with beer from early morning. All the Zimbabwean supporters here are white skinned. One obviously drunk Kiwi kept yelling that Zimbabwe had the highest number of ugly whites in the world! The Zimbabweans that I met in the train confessed that they had one foot in England. 8220;None of us have bought property in Zimbabwe,8221; said Sue, an economist from Zimbabwe now working in Britain. 8220;It is simply not worth it.

We may never be able to sell it! A few years ago one Zimbabwe dollar bought two British pounds. The youngsters are all running away as soon as they can,8221; she said.

Brits8217; woes

Apparently the British too have been hit by the Asian economic crisis. Tourist inflows this year are said to be much lower than previous years, the influx from the sub-continent for the World Cup notwithstanding. Apartment rentals are cheaper, though the low end ones, the 400 to 800 pounds per weekare doing roaring business. The middle and high end ones have been hit hard.

Hookah heroes

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Edgware Road in Central London is quite a sight in the evenings. There are a number of Lebanese and Turkish shops dotting the road not to mention the innumerable betting shops and one casino. Every evening a whole lot of restaurants spill over into the sidewalks. And seated at tables on either side of the road are a number of geriatric, and some young females too, smoking massive hookahs. It is a rare sight.

Sena8217;s Tebbit test

The media here is going to town of a perceived third World War to be started by India and Pakistan. The run-up to Tuesday8217;s match between the two sides has given the newspapers something to write of. Their India-Pakistan bashing stories are amusing, even if they are irritating.

One newspaper claimed Bal Thackeray had once made a statement that he would trust an Indian Muslim 8220;only if he sheds tears after India loses a cricket match to Pakistan8221; and stated that itwas India8217;s version of the Tebbit Test!