The key to Trent Bridge is ambience. Along with Lord’s, this is the best place to watch Test cricket in England but that special atmosphere manages to survive the conversion to county cricket, which is a rare feat.
It was a frequent destination for me in the Eighties, when Clive Rice and Richard Hadlee won two County Championship titles for Nottinghamshire with the priceless aid of bespoke pitches created by that most audacious of groundsmen, Ron Allsopp.
The wickets are different, these days, along with many of the buildings but Trent Bridge has determinedly resisted becoming a concrete arena. It remains a proper cricket ground and, in my view, should be inked in for a Test match every year – albeit not on the counterproductively
lifeless surface produced in July.
Many factors combine to produce the atmosphere of Trent Bridge but location is paramount. The ground is alongside a river, always a bonus, and in one of the most vibrant young cities in the land.
Crucially, Nottingham is very much a sporting town. The two football clubs have both seen better days but their grounds are close by, along with the racecourse, creating a sporting enclave. Brian Clough and Trevor Francis were once regular visitors to the cricket.
The area immediately surrounding the ground is busy and diverse. The Radcliffe Road side is industrial but not unpleasant – lots of coffee shops and Indian restaurants. West Bridgford, a 200-yard walk from the opposite gate, is contrastingly sophisticated, its main street a line of cafes with terraces for lazy lunches.
You could take Trent Bridge out of these surrounds and it would still be attractive, but the context helps. So, too, does the fact that this is the only ground I know, around the cricketing world, that boasts two on-site pubs.
The Trent Bridge Inn – “world-famous”, according to its own banners – is hard to miss and serves its purpose as a meeting place and purveyor of pints. Directly across the ground, the Larwood and Voce is a definite step up. Part of a small chain of gastro-pubs in the county, the food is good enough to have won national newspaper awards, the drinks choice is wide and the interior is stylish yet unpretentious.
What is not to like about this arrangement? Nothing, so long as it is advertised and inclusive. On the anecdotal evidence of overheard conversations, many spectators seemed unaware that a dining pub this good actually sat inside the cricket ground. Maybe it is of no benefit to Nottinghamshire to promote it but the attitude to alternative catering suggests otherwise.
There is a carvery in the pavilion Long Room, serving bacon and apple sauce when I looked in, but nothing substantial elsewhere – not even a proper coffee stall. Admittedly, this is a rare conundrum for Notts – quite apart from the two pubs there must be 20 cafes and eateries within a five-minute walk – but a sandwich and coffee outlet would not go amiss.
That is almost a solitary gripe, for this is one of those grounds that transmit the buzz of expectancy and enjoyment as soon as you arrive. Sure, there is a parking shortage but that is true of too many English grounds. Admission, for championship days, is a reasonable £14 and, once inside, there are ample, businesslike signs and a smart, well-staffed reception area.
Also, and not to be scoffed at, Trent Bridge prides itself on its hanging baskets. It may seem a trivial matter but a few flowers can do wonders for the feel of a ground, even one already populated by a genuinely knowledgeable crowd.
So, too, can good scoreboards. Being a confirmed dinosaur, something within me still yearns for the best of the old-style manual boards and rebels against the flashing monstrosities that divert to an advertisement just as you are starting to fathom what the score is. No such complaints here. The two boards are large, clear and highly informative, one of them even displaying all the bowling figures.
Sadly, the second board is housed in the one new building that sets my teeth on edge – a tower that looks as if it belongs in Times Square rather than Trent Bridge. It is a curious aberration, for every other development has maintained and enhanced the existing character.
Two square-on stands have sleek modern roofs for shade and shelter and the vast Radcliffe Road stand is softened by appealing coving and a clock-tower. Even the floodlights, set in modish rings, are nice to look at.
Thankfully, the pavilion itself still looks untouched, with its balconies and balustrades lending an agreeably retro touch to an otherwise modern venue. True, the interior feels tired and dated and an upgrade to these facilities must surely be next on the agenda. On all known form, it will be done well.
By Alan Lee
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