A tricky place to understand

Tiger Woods won the Open Championship recently. He received the trophy from a man in a dark suit and shook hands with another half-dozen or so men in dark suits. Meanwhile, behind Woods, in front of the clubhouse of the Royal and Ancient in St Andrews, Scotland, stood hundreds more men in dark suits.

The R&A bears many similarities to the Marylebone Cricket Club though the R&A has yet to take the quantum-leap out of the 19th century and admit women members. So the much-lampooned MCC can claim that it is the more progressive institution on at least one count.

Lord's, according to pretty much everyone except perhaps Jagmohan Dalmiya, remains the home of cricket and since it's in England it must therefore be the home of English cricket. Playing on your home ground is supposed to be an advantage. Is that why England haven't beaten Australia there since 1934?

Even when they have ended up dominating the series (1981 and 1985 for example), they did badly at Lord's. England have won or drawn their last three home series against South Africa yet been trounced at Lord's each time.

Nasser Hussain says Lord's is a "tricky place until you learn to understand the place". He refers to the seven-feet slope from Grandstand to Tavern side rather than the rarified atmosphere but his comments have a double meaning. Darren Gough wrote in his autobiography: "Believe it or not, this Barnsley lad loves making his way through the egg-and-bacon ties and toffs in the Long Room." The fact that he had to offer that disclaimer tells you a lot about players' attitudes to the ground.

Only at Lord's could Ian Botham have left the field to complete silence, as he did in 1981 after making a pair against Australia. This was the England captain, bowled round his legs first ball as he tried to sweep Ray Bright. And no-one clapped or said a word. It was like watching an actor dry up on stage. No-one could bear to look. But anywhere else, the general buzz of the atmosphere would have sustained the crowd. There would have been groans from England supporters, cheers from Australia. But at Lord's - nothing.

Botham recounted a story about an MCC member addressing him as "Botham" in the Long Room to which Beefy's not unreasonable response was that he's happy to be called either "Ian" or "Mr Botham" but not just "Botham". Only at Lord"s.

Lord's has the capacity to inspire players, and not necessarily the most gifted ones. Take Bob Massie, the Western Australian swing bowler, who took 16 wickets for 137 on his Test debut in the 1972 Ashes Test. In 1984 England, having lost 5-0 to West Indies, were hoping for some light relief against Sri Lanka, who were playing their first Test in England. They put Sri Lanka in and were ground down by Sidath Wettimuny, the opener whose 190 was the longest Test innings at Lord's.

Almost without exception, overseas players are nourished by Lord's. They are inspired by the traditions, including the modern one of the dressing-room honours boards. If there is any aversion to the suits or the stuffiness it becomes an incentive rather than a burden. Perhaps for England players, that walk through the Long Room intimidates rather than inspires.

The atmosphere of Lord's is more social than anything. There is a constant buzz of chatter and the chink of glasses. You won't find any Barmy Army chanting here. Of course the crowd is partisan but not overtly so, as they are in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

England's recent record at Lord's is vastly improved and they have achieved good victories over India, New Zealand and West Indies. But the feeling remains that England would still to prefer to be playing somewhere else. Headingley, for example - except they missed that option off the schedule.