I purposefully stood in the Long Room in the Lords main pavilion to watch young Darren Bravo as he walked through the crowded enclosure on his way to the middle for the first time at the "Home of Cricket." The Long Room is lined with paintings of famous cricketers and administrators, from the 18th century to the present day. It is described as "The most evocative four walls in world cricket."
I always felt proud whenever I made that journey. There is something unbelievably spiritual about that minute between the dressing room and the gate, just before you hit the immaculately kept green turf to face the warm applause and appreciation from a very full house.
It is also something tangibly English, like the announcement of the names of the great golfers over the years on the first tee before they hit their first ball at the British Open, or the parading of a racehorse in front of the Queen at Royal Ascot, with their smartly dressed groom, trainer and owner in attendance.
Luckily for me I now have the privilege to do so as an honorary member of the MCC, membership bestowed on cricketers who have represented their country with distinction. What actually unfolds in the middle is in some way, and for quite a lot of the onlookers, incidental. It is really a spectacle created by the spectators, some who have been watching cricket since my dad was a little boy. They are there every day of a Test match.
Those MCC stalwarts with "eyebrows like unclipped hedges" can be very territorial, but Lords, like Wimbledon, St Andrew's, Royal Ascot just to name a few, is a great symbol of the people who give it life and a thunderous heartbeat. If I'm allowed to reminisce a little, every time I left the dressing room with my bat in my hand, I felt I was in the perfect place, mentally and physically, to do what so many cricketers dream of achieving, a Test hundred at Lords.
But it eluded me on the three occasions the West Indies team played at Lords during my career. The best I got was 54, with, as expected, a couple dubious decisions not going my way. The strange thing about this is that even before my first Test innings at Lords I had already conquered the venue. In May 1994, playing for Warwickshire, during that memorable run which started with the 375 in Antigua, I found myself pulling my cricket bag through the Grace Gates at Lords with a number of records staring me in the face.
I first strapped on my batting pads against Glamorgan CC, at my home ground, Edgbaston, and scored 147. By the time I got to Lords to play against Middlesex, two counties, Leicestershire and Somerset, fell under the same spell: 106 and 120 not out against Phil Simmons' team, Leicestershire, and 136 against Somerset.
A sixth consecutive century would have been a new mark in first-class cricket, but it wasn't to be. Funnily enough, six from seven innings was, and I got that after failing in the first innings, scoring 26 with 140 in the second innings. Looking back at my experiences at Lords, I ponder now if I was being sent an early message back then that this hallowed ground would not easily succumb like the others did.
Whilst I was having a drink at the Coronation Garden behind the main pavilion after the first day's play, the familiar face of Angus Fraser surfaced. He played and bowled many overs during my record innings in Antigua. A funny story: on the third morning, he beat me outside the off stump with a couple deliveries, just missing the outside edge of the bat, and he looked at me and said, "I don't believe I can call you a lucky...if you're on 340."
I remember turning away and smiling, knowing full well it was a very close call. Darren Bravo belonged nowhere else but where he was on Thursday morning, at the fall of the second West Indian batsman to James Anderson, striding to the wicket to do battle.
I have kept my opinion very close to my chest, with all the comparisons and superlatives flying around. I think I have an idea of what more is needed than just natural talent to address your most punitive critics. Unperturbed he was, with the trail of history he had already started to leave behind with every step, out of the dressing room, down the stairs, through the Long Room and through the gates. He looked composed and confident.
What a waste of an innings two hours later, with the embarrassment of your batting partner just touching down before you in the same crease. But he looked so good that even the dropped catch the over before seemed a part of a show directed by Darren Bravo.
He is going to be around for a long time, and if Chanders doesn't want to bat at three, maybe it is something our most talented batsman should consider. From there he will be able to give the opposition one less wicket to celebrate before he sets about constructing many a great innings.
Adrian Barath looked confident in both innings and we expect that an opener facing the new ball will be asked a lot of questions on or around the off stump and will occasionally fall victim. But what we want in return is that when he's set and seemingly in control, a soft dismissal behind the wicket should be avoided.
Shannon Gabriel looks like a fast bowler with a bag full of talent. I must say I was a proud citizen of T&T watching him receive his cap on debut and I was even more impressed by his bowling maturity. Tall, robust and with a mean look-comparisons have already been made to the Barbadian Wayne Daniel. I have to agree they have a very similar approach to the wicket, slightly disorganised at the start, which then stretches out into some long athletic strides. Not dissimilar to what will be seen at the Olympics with the long jumpers. He then muscles the ball into the wicket, generating quite a bit of pace.
He now joins Tony Gray, Ian Bishop and Mervyn Dillon as West Indian fast bowlers out of Trinidad and Tobago; let's hope we have a little more to cheer about, because I always thought we didn't get the best out of that trio of six-footers! Three wickets on his debut against one of the best batting line-ups in world cricket is a very promising start, and I hope he continues in the same vein, keeping his body sound and free of injuries.
Looking at the Test match at the time of writing, it is a tall order, with all of two days left; West Indies still trails England's first-innings score of 398 by 35 runs, with only six second-innings wickets in hand. I think it is safe to say that Chanders will get another score, but will all again be in vain?
Adrian Barath and Marlon Samuels were guilty of getting set, looking on the verge of carrying on to bigger things-and then ignoring one basic rule of batsmanship. When executing an attacking shot it must be done with greater precision than a defensive one.
When driving at the ball in England you have to stay on top of the bounce to keep it down in case it takes the outer half of the bat. Those mistakes, the run-out of Bravo and, once again, Chanders running out of batting partners, robbed us of another 150 runs and a respectable first-innings total.
James Anderson bowled better than Stuart Broad, but the latter got the bulk of the wickets, and his seven for 72 must be commended. England captain Andrew Strauss played very well for his fifth century at his home ground, something I was apprehensive about before the start of the match. His record at Lords is phenomenal and he now stands one century away from joining an elite group with six centuries at Lords.
I felt our bowlers showed some mettle, even though I believe the attack needed a better variety. Shane Shillingford should be brought in at the expense of Fidel Edwards to give us that genuine spinning option. Shannon Gabriel we know earned his selection through the unavailability of Ravi Rampaul through injury, but I believe he showed enough in this Test to suggest he can be an asset in this series.
Whatever the outcome of this Test match, I plan to be in the dressing room, because as I said in my last column, this is a talented bunch that needs a second glance!
