The Guardian world cricket forum

How is the cricketing world looking upon Lord's today? Are people from Melbourne to Mumbai saying: "I see that when it came to the crunch, Lord's didn't have any vision?" Or will they look around a beautiful ground the next time they make a pilgrimage to the home of cricket and sigh with relief at the destruction that has not come to pass?

If we can draw one consolation from the economic downturn that in the UK will bring a decade of falling living standards for millions it is that at least "The Vision" is no more. "The Vision", once you cut through the PR, was to increase Lord's capacity in exchange for four dirty great tower blocks behind the arm at the Nursery End.

As an example of the grandiose thinking that was prevalent before we all realised that we were spending money we didn't actually have, "The Vision" was a plan for its time that fortunately will never see the light of day.

There are times when Lord's could do with being a little bit bigger. That much is obvious. But there is an essential difference between a cricket stadium and a cricket ground. Lord's, like the best places to watch the game, is a cricket ground, possessing a beauty and individuality that brings an appeal and contentment to even the dullest of games.

In all forms of international cricket, apart perhaps from Twenty20, there is time to gaze around and contemplate and if it is possible to do so without looking at a group of high-rises then so much the better. The architects said they would not cast a shadow on the outfield but they sure as hell would have cast a shadow on the soul.

I remember signing up with 38 Degrees in the days when it was known for fighting against the sale of our national forests, rather than as a pressure group for just about anything it can think of. I shared the obligatory link on Facebook saying Save our Forests, only to receive a response from a friend in building who retorted: "Build houses!"

His argument was hard to resist because we all know that the economy is most easily driven forward during a construction boom. But that does not mean construction at all costs, willfully ignoring the consequences. Any cost-benefit analysis at Lord's had to conclude that cramming more people into the ground, and shrugging that it was not quite as good as it used to be, was not the way to go.

That does not make me anti-development. I don't object to a new clematis by the Nursery Gates, for example, and I would personally walk around the crowd with a collection box if it paid for speed bumps on Wellington Road to stop the boy racers threatening my life every time I walked across the zebra crossing to the ground. And yes, before you take that too literally, I like other development too.

I am mightily impressed by the simple but effective new stand at Edgbaston, delighted to see that India's new stadiums are beginning to have an eye to creature comforts as well as capacity, and that Adelaide just about managed to build the Great Southern Stand without destroying its comeliness.

India has 10 stadiums with capacities of 40,000 or more. England has none. But that is India. In England, for Lord's to edge its capacity up to 35,000 during a financially troubled decade, and do so subtly and intelligently, is the best choice available.

Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, would have recognised this as a more modest vision, but one designed to bring lasting contentment. "Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart," he said. "Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."

Lord's has looked inside its heart – and it is all the better for it.

Wednesday 7 December, 2.15pm update

Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, has criticised Cricket Australia for promoting the likes of Patrick Cummins to Test cricket before their bodies can handle the workload.

Cummins has been ruled out until mid-January because the heel injury he picked up against South Africa last month has proved to be worse than first thought. A bone scan revealed the 18-year-old has a stress fracture and will not return to bowling until next month.

"You've got to look at why people are getting injured," Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald. "With bowlers they actually don't have enough net bowling these days, they're not battle-hardened enough for the demands of playing cricket"

Waugh who has been involved in the recent review of Australian team performance, claims Cummins's injury suggests the players are not being properly handled. Cummins was selected to make his Test debut in Johannesburg after only three first-class appearances. 'It's pretty ridiculous that you've got young blokes who are talented and take the next step but haven't had enough overs under their belt,'' Waugh said.

The Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan says his players have received promises they'll be paid before next week's first test against South Africa after going nine months without their salaries.

Sri Lanka's cricketers have not been paid since March because of the national body's financial difficulties, providing a constant distraction to their on-field performances.

The team has lost three straight test series since the problems surfaced and will now play a three-match series in South Africa beginning next Thursday.
Dilshan says he had recent discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket and "they promised they will sort it out next week. They are definitely going to sort it out before the first test. That's what I heard from the cricket board."

Back in the UK, Hampshire's cricket manager Giles White has had to defend the county's third successive pre-season training trip to Barbados after a sluggish start to the last campaign and eventual relegation.

Last season Hampshire lost five of their first eight County Championship games but White told BBC Radio Solent: "We feel that Barbados will give us the best possible preparation for the season.

"If you stay in England then you can get through to the start of the season having hardly had any outdoor practice which we know we can get in the Caribbean. You're almost guaranteed sunshine out there."