Bacon rashers, hi-vis jackets and a dog collar: all life is found among Oval early birds
Final day of Test summer will burn in the memory of some but what about those around the Oval who simply viewed it as any other August morning?Six o’clock.I think this is a good idea.It didn’t feel like it when the alarm went off 20 minutes ago as watery light crept under the curtains.But now, cycling through the deserted dawn streets of south London to the Oval, my faith is restored.They still teach the “Gravedigger” theory of news coverage in journalism schools around the world.
Ostensibly, it describes the act of reporting on a headline-grabbing news story from the point of view of a peripheral figure or unexpected participant.Days like this do not come around that often.I dismount and stroll into Oval Cafe as the first rashers of bacon are sizzling on the grill.“It’s good, I’ll do more breakfasts than I thought I was going to!” says the owner, Mehmet, as his daughter-in-law, Seval, serves a couple of bleary eyed punters.They are a Harry Brook bat-toss from the ground but do they care who wins this morning? “Cricket isn’t my thing.
I’m from Turkey,” he says, smiling, before rushing off to rotate his rashers.Over the road, the sign outside St Mark’s church says services are held at 10.30am and 6.30pm on Sundays.There is no sign of the Rev Stephen Coulson but I wonder if his sermon last night touched on biblical rain showers and the morality of Chris Woakes coming out to bat in a sling? I later spy him on the concourse 10 minutes before play begins sporting his dog collar and shepherding a flock of Graham Thorpe-headbanded fans to their seats.
“It’s not a thing for me, cricket,I’m football ,” says Gergo at the Buzz Coffee stand in the churchyard,“I do like hearing the roar from the crowd … but I’ve got no idea what they are cheering about,”Surely I can find someone who is invested in the outcome of the final Test? As the first few travellers emerge from the Oval tube station I sidle over to the kiosk,Questions about how many hours Jamie Overton slept in his hyperbaric chamber are met with blank faces and played with a TfL stickered dead bat.
“As long as everyone gets in and out safely, that’s all that matters to us.”At 7.30am, the ground is empty but there is a hi-vis hive of activity from stewards, litter pickers, security staff and food and drink vendors.The place is creaking to life, unexpectedly for one last time.The 25th and last day of a pulverising series.
“You didn’t think you’d be back today did you?” chirps a perky steward.“Hopefully England have got a plan, they got themselves in a pickle yesterday,” muses player and match official Hari Haran.He was in the ground as a punter on Sunday with his son.“He’s at work today unfortunately, so am I, but I’ll have a decent view.”Loitering on the boundary edge, the Oval looks impossibly beautiful even with a sheet of tarpaulin stretched across the square.
The ground staff mow, hammer, sweep and eye me with suspicion, understandably after the week they have had.“Morning,” says the head honcho, Lee Fortis, hubcap hands carrying coffee and what looks like one of Mehmet’s breakfast specials.Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionLater, the players take the field to huge roars.The dhol drummers drum and Jerusalem is parped.“We’re like two urchins” says Andy, peering through the gates this morning but does not have a ticket.
He is joined by Vicky, a local artist from round the corner in Vauxhall.They have just met but will watch the action, or what they can glimpse of it, together.“I had to come down,” says Vicky.“I’ll combine it with a trip to Tate Britain,” says Andy.Snatched conversations about the heavy roller as a comfort blanket can be heard as fans nervously take their seats.
Prasidh Krishna stands at the top his mark.There is rain in the distance but the Test summer will finish today.Thousands in south London will remember it for ever, just as a cast of plenty go about their Monday morning as if it is any other.
From The Naked Gun to Wednesday: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
The Naked GunOut nowFollowing a slightly tortuous period in development, a new Naked Gun film is in cinemas with Liam Neeson playing the son of legendary Det Sgt Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen in the three original films). Also starring Pamela Anderson and Busta Rhymes.Late ShiftOut nowA nurse on an understaffed surgical ward in a Swiss hospital, Floria (Leonie Benesch), takes her work seriously. But as she cares for a sick young mother and an elderly man, she finds herself caught in a race against time, in this acclaimed drama from Petra Volpe, which premiered at the Berlinale.Sophia Loren: Hollywood Style, Neapolitan SpiritBFI Southbank, to 31 AugustLike Marilyn Monroe or James Dean, the mere words “Sophia Loren” bring to mind a particular image
Seth Meyers on the Epstein conspiracy: ‘This is a crisis of Trump’s making’
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A men’s only club in Sydney has banned sockettes. Is it Victorian-era modesty or fashion policing below the ankle?
Caitlin. A literal “boys’ club” I haven’t heard of has banned a type of sock. What’s going on?Hold my prosecco and plate of canapes, do I have a story for you. According to the Australian Financial Review, the elite private members Australian Club in Sydney has embarked on a war on men’s socks, and the common sockette is in the firing line.As per the AFR, the club secretary has distributed amendments to its dress requirements for the clubhouse, which requires that jackets be “tailored” and that socks – which, they note, “must be worn by gentlemen” – should cover above the ankle
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Seth Meyers on Maga’s Epstein scandal: ‘They did this to themselves’
Late-night hosts continued to track the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal that Donald Trump just won’t let go and the Environmental Protection Agency giving up on the environment.Seth Meyers continued to relish Donald Trump’s Jeffrey Epstein scandal that just won’t go away, as the president was hounded by questions about his friendship with the convicted sex offender while in Scotland. “They did this to themselves,” the Late Night host said of Maga’s Epstein quagmire. “This is like if after Trump screamed they’re eating the dogs in a debate, Donald Trump started eating the dog.”Despite Trump’s evident frustration with the topic, “people haven’t moved on, because Trump and his Maga mates spent years cynically hyping up the Epstein conspiracy,” Meyers explained on Wednesday evening
From Zooey Deschanel to Captain Kirk doing Dylan: the best songs by actors, ranked!
It perhaps stretches the definition of “actor”: Parker starred in a soap opera, but was better known as pornographic actor Wade Nichols. However, Like an Eagle is incredible, a soaring, euphoric mid-tempo disco epic produced by his then-partner, Jacques Morali – and infinitely cooler than Morali’s biggest successes with Village People – so let’s bend the rules.Captain Kirk’s debut album raises questions: are its hysterical recitations of pop hits and Shakespeare soliloquies meant to be funny or a wildly misguided attempt at out-there art? They sound nuts either way. Later albums, where Shatner is audibly in on the joke, are somehow less fun; they’re certainly less disturbing.Produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, Johansson’s debut album was heavy on Tom Waits covers and featured a cameo from David Bowie
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