Lord's made exception for Mushtaq while giving honour to ring the bell by Bipin Dani

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Ground:	Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood
Scorecard:	England v Pakistan
Player:	Mushtaq Ahmed, Intikhab Alam
Event:	Pakistan in England and Ireland 2016

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DateLine: 16th July 2016

 

Mumbai, July 16 : The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which assigned the honour of ringing the 5-minute bell before the commencement of the ongoing Test at Lords on Day one on Thursday made one "exception" for Mushtaq Ahmed.

 

The former Pakistan leg-spinner and current spin bowling coach of the national team Mushtaq Ahmed was not in the usual dress-code of jack-suit and the MCC tie near the bar at the pavilion area.

 

"We do ask that bell ringers adhere to the dress code for the Pavilion (jacket and tie) but happily make exceptions for those in team tracksuits etc, such as Mushtaq on Thursday", Chris Smith, the MCC spokesperson, speaking exclusively from Lords, said.

 

Mushtaq was not available for comments but Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan team manager said "he hardly had any time to change his attire. He was looking after the boys till the last-minute before the Test and had no time to change".

 

The ringing of the five-minute bell at Lord’s by an international cricketer, administrator or well-known enthusiast of the sport has been a tradition introduced in 2007, by Keith Bradshaw, the MCC CEO then. He is now attached with the South Australia Cricket Association (SACA) in Adelaide.

 

The bell is rung to signify the imminent start of play, and it has become a great honour for the ex-players, sports persons (not necessarily the cricketers) or officials to be invited to ring it on each morning of a Test match.

 

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2016 Bipin Dani)