The Queen and cricket

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II ended as it had begun - on the first day of a Test match. At Madras in February 1952, news of the death of George VI arrived at tea; England batted until stumps, before the scheduled rest day was brought forward as a mark of respect. On the resumption, they were skittled by Vinoo Mankad, before Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar made centuries to set up India's first Test win. Seventy years later, only the toss was possible at The Oval before grey skies began to weep, in possible anticipation of events at Balmoral. It allowed Harry Brook to become the 339th England player to receive his Test cap as a subject of the Queen - Fred Trueman was the first - though he would not take the field for two days, by which time the country had a king. England beat South Africa by nine wickets.

In Madras, England were led by Donald Carr, standing in for Nigel Howard, who had pleurisy. It was the second and last Test of Carr's career, though he had the distinction of taking the first wicket of the new reign - the first success by an Elizabethan bowler since Francis Drake, against Spain in 1588. Yet cricket and society were beginning to change. That summer, Len Hutton became England's first professional captain, and led them to a 3-0 win over India, before recapturing the Ashes the following year. The coronation was also marked by an overdue knighthood, for the son of a Cambridge slater who had worked as an apprentice gas fitter before finding a county willing to pay for his batting talents. Like Gordon Richards, the Shropshire coal miner's son who became the greatest jockey in the land and was also knighted in 1953, Jack Hobbs overcame his background, and was honoured for his achievements.

Though racing was always the Queen's greatest love, she had good reason to take more than a polite interest in cricket. Her husband, a decent player, was twice president of MCC, in 1949 and 1975, and her father was generously described by Wisden as the greatest royal cricketer since Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1751, largely because he took a hat-trick in a match at Windsor: Edward VII and the future George V and Edward VIII were all bowled, proving that a straight always beats three kings.

In 1947, a good 75 years before Lord's was decked out in red, white and blue to mark the Queen's platinum jubilee, she had made her first official visit to the ground, in the company of her parents and her sister, Princess Margaret, to watch England play South Africa. It was the first of 36 visits to Lord's, 32 to see Tests. In 1948, Don Bradman and his Australian Invincibles were invited to Balmoral, where they met George VI. The previous day, Bradman had made an unbeaten 123 against Scotland at Aberdeen, his final innings in the UK. Now, he raised eyebrows by being filmed walking with his hands in his pockets as he spoke to the King. Not remotely offended, George knighted him in 1949. On June 23, 1952, the Queen visited Lord's on the fourth day of the game against India, arriving shortly after Mankad had become the first Indian to make a century and take five wickets in the same Test. She congratulated him at tea. "One of the most charming pictures that ever appeared in Wisden," wrote A. A. Thomson, "is that of Her Majesty shaking hands with Mankad on that glorious day."

Until 1999, so for almost half a century of her reign, the Queen was the only woman permitted in the Pavilion. A doubtless apocryphal story is told about the MCC member waking from a doze, seeing but not recognising her, and spluttering: "Good heavens, there's a woman in the committee room! And she's talking to Swanton!" Michael Henderson later wrote that E. W. Swanton, grand old man of The Daily Telegraph, might have regarded this as a meeting of equals. Despite all her visits to Lord's, the 2009 Ashes Test was the first time in 50 years she had stayed for lunch. This caused problems when she asked for a Dubonnet, and staff found the drinks cabinet empty. Someone was sent to find a bottle in St John's Wood, but was almost thwarted by a security guard on their return, who said spirits were prohibited. The protestation - "but it's for the Queen" - was finally accepted.

There is also a royal connection to The Oval, whose freehold is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, marked in Surrey's crest by the Prince of Wales's three ostrich feathers. The Queen first went there as monarch in 1955, for Surrey's match against the South Africans. Two years later, she visited the Guildford festival as part of the town's 700th anniversary celebrations, though not before Surrey had completed an easy victory over Hampshire. An exhibition match was quickly arranged to give the royal couple something to watch before meeting the teams. For the World Cups in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999, the Queen invited all the teams to a reception at Buckingham Palace; in 2019, it was just the captains. The 1999 invitation came halfway through the tournament, by which time England had been knocked out. David Morgan, then deputy chairman of the ECB, recalls being introduced to the royals as head of the steering committee, and hearing the Duke of Edinburgh mutter: "What on earth is left to steer?"

In 1977, the Queen had visited Trent Bridge, where she witnessed the Test debut of a cricketer she would later knight, then make a peer. "It was a moment I will never forget," said Ian Botham. "I was walking on air." Inspired, he took five wickets in his first innings. His captain was Mike Brearley, who felt like "a tongue-tied courtier" in her presence, worried he would get someone's name wrong, or find his zip undone. He made a good impression, though: three years later, Brearley was invited to lunch at Buckingham Palace with five others, including the poet Ted Hughes. Dickie Bird was also invited to private lunches, as a thank you for umpiring charity matches in aid of injured jockeys. A royal visit often left England captains flummoxed. Alastair Cook found he could not remember his players' real names when meeting the Queen in 2013. While he rescued himself with "this is Jimm… er, James Anderson", he struggled to recall anything more formal for Graeme Swann than "Swanny". A few years later, Joe Root was told to address her either as Your Majesty or Ma'am, but blurted out "Your Ma'am".

Australians have been less affected. At the Centenary Test at Melbourne, Dennis Lillee asked the Queen for her autograph; she sent him a signed photo. Four years later, invited to the Palace to receive his MBE, Lillee greeted her with "G'day, Queen." During the line-ups at Lord's, with the Queen not quite out of earshot, Rodney Hogg remarked that she had "nice legs for an old Sheila". Deep down, the affection was mutual: visiting the Test Match Special box in 2001, she bore a fruit cake laced with brandy. "When we cut it open, you only had to have two sniffs and you were pissed," said Henry Blofeld. "It was the best cake we've had." He and Jonathan Agnew were enjoying her presence when she noticed play had begun, and asked how they could be with her and on air at the same time. "We have an Australian," Blofeld explained. "Oh yes," she said. "They can be useful."

Patrick Kidd writes the Diary and Tailender columns in The Times.