Not the Garden of Eden

Fantasy Bob expects all his 3 readers will agree that getting the builders in is a pain.  Big time.  How did Qin  Shi Huang get 8,800 km of Great Wall of China coming in at its estimate, when nobody FB knows can even get a 10 metre fence put up in the garden without recourse to many extensions to the original completion date?   Just how many cups of tea did Huang brew to keep them on the job? And what about the Acropolis?  How did Pericles cope with the delays while the builder had to pop down to B&Q for another length of marble having misread the decimal point in his orginal measurements?  And after Pericles had taken a day off work to wait in for him too.

Just waiting for the plasterer
to get back to us

So, everyone has some sympathy for the authorities at Eden Gardens Kolkata, who got the builders in a while ago for a bit of renovation. 'No problem, guv, straightforward little job, should have it done by the weekend.  Cash in hand?'  said the man with the ruler in his top pocket as he strolled to his white van parked on the pavement outside.

Well, FB guesses the authorities forgot to ask him which weekend he had in mind.  An early spurt luring them into the false impression that progress was being made.  Then a little break 'Problems with the suppliers, guv, could go somewhere else but it's inferior, I wouldn't recommend it.'   Then the need to consult the architect, 'This plan, guv, see, it shouldn't have that wall there.  That's where you want your en suite.  That wall should be somewhere else.'  It's just one thing after another.  Then there is only a voice message, and no one returns the calls. And there you are, with less than 3 weeks to go before India and England are due to play in the World Cup, you've got an unrenovated stadium no seats, no toilets, no stairs.  The ICC descend and decide to move the match to Bangalore.  Perhaps the paint job was the better option after all.

Eden Gardens is the oldest cricket ground in India, cricket was first played there in 1863.  Now it is the second largest cricket stadium in the world after the MCG, with a capacity of 86,000 (although its record crowd is said to be over 130,000 in the days before no one really bothered with health and safety and all that stuff.  Perhaps people were smaller in those days.)   Douglas Jardine's MCC side played the first Test match there in 1934. 

Laxman and Dravid

Perhaps the greatest Test at Eden Gardens was against Australia in 2001.  India were facing defeat having followed on, until a 5th wicket partnership of  376 between Laxman (281) and Dravid (180) gave them something to work with.  The Indians then bowled Australia out for 212 to win by 171.  Harbajhan Singh took 6 for 73 and a little known cricketer called Tendulkar 3 for 31.  As Genesis put it 'And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed and called VVS Laxman'

Despite its name, Eden Gardens is no Garden of Eden.  It has a reputation as a highly charged venue and riots by the crowd are regular excitements.   The 2 most celebrated incidents were both in the 1990s.  The 1996 World Cup semi-final was called off when Sri Lanka were on the verge of victory over the home side after an Indian collapse and the crowd set fire to the stands.   More renovation needed!  And in 1999 Sachin Tendulkar was run out after colliding with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar. The crowd thought that Akhtar had impeded Tendulkar and rioted, forcing the police to evict the spectators. The match continued in front of an empty stadium.

Sometimes even Fantasy Bob has to have sympathy with those in the building trade.  Things can just happen on the building site.  Try this link for an example - Gerard Hofnung's superb Bricklayer's Lament.  Test Match Quality