Behind the scenes of a Test

Date released: 17 July 2008

Metro newspaper's Chris Stocks took a look behind the scenes at a Test Match. Where better to do that than at 'The Home of Cricket', Lord's?

'It's not just cricket behind the scenes'

In essence, Test cricket is very simple. Get 20 wickets and you win the match. However, that is to overlook the many intricacies and nuances which make the game so fascinating.

The same can be said of the television broadcasts of Test cricket. As a viewer, it looks pretty simple as you sit there watching Bumble, Beefy and co chew the fat over the day's play.

Look a little deeper, though, and there are a mind-boggling number of processes which come together to bring the cricket into your living room.

Down to the wire: A tiny example of the miles of cables used To that end I spent a day at Lord's with Sky during the first Test between England and South Africa.

I knew I'd get to spend some time with the crew in the commentary box. What I didn't know was the sheer number of people I'd meet before I made my way up to the box which lies at the top of the giant 'spaceship' media centre at Lord's.

It all began shortly before play when I was met by Sky PR Rachel McKibbin. We made our way into the broadcaster's compound pitched up behind the Nursery Ground. Here were 15 trucks packed with the majority of the 80 people who are employed to produce the outside broadcast. This unseen army are the people who make the magic happen.

Ground control: Steering things from behind the scenes We start in the production truck, where director Mark Lynch and his staff co-ordinate everything.

This vehicle houses 78 screens showing the action from every possible angle, Snicko, Hawk-Eye, the 'magic' camera for the super slow-mo and the all-important 'fruit machine' - the invaluable stats box which tells you everything you want to know about the game from the current run-rate to Michael Vaughan's average against South Africa at Lord's.

We are taken into a separate wing of this truck to talk to the guys who look after Snicko (which tells you if a batsman has edged a ball via sound from the stump mics), Hotspot (which determines the same thing but by using infrared cameras which can pick up the smallest of contact with the ball) and Hawk-Eye.

All are friendly, engaging and absolute cricket nuts. We are then taken into the sound truck where Dennis and Quentin, via a huge switchboard, control, believe it or not, the sound. They can emphasise crowd noise to make the broadcast more atmospheric. They could also make David Lloyd mute if they so choose, which is no mean feat.

Probably the worst job belongs to the Racks - a party of five who look after the lighting to ensure the picture looks the same whatever the weather.

We are then ushered into a very small white van which houses three chaps who put up all the graphics during the game - so when Neil McKenzie has bored you to tears on his way to a century these are the guys who bring up the graphic telling you it took him 32 days.

TV-world: The racks of screens From here it was on to the VT truck - the men who cut and splice the opening credits, highlights packages and so forth.

I am mentally exhausted. So we take a quick breather before heading up to the media 'pod' and into the sacred Sky commentary box. Before then I sneak into the studio and size up David Gower's chair. The studio is very small, though, - much smaller than you would imagine.

Next door is the commentary box. The view, as you would expect is stunning. Beefy and David Gower are holding court. Paul King, the senior producer, is sat quietly at the back making sure everything is running smoothly.

In the corner is Benedict Bermange, the stato who I am assured 'eats the Wisden Almanak' and is the guy who keeps Bumble and co furnished with facts.

Room with a view: Gower and Botham talk cricket This place is busy. Shaun Pollock wanders in for his stint at the mic, as do Bumble and Mike Atherton. We quickly establish Athers is a) very busy (he is also now the cricket writer for The Times) and b) he doesn't think much of the tourists' much-vaunted pace attack.

Beefy, in his own sympathetic way, then tells the world Nasser Hussain is absent because of food poisoning.

This place is also fun. But it is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what actually goes into a production.

For every Ian Botham or Mike Atherton, there are a dozen hardy souls working in the background doing the leg-work.

See behind the scenes

See behind the scenes at Lord's for yourself, on a Tour of Lord's.

Nose around in the Investec Media Centre; check out the England dressing room and much more - just £12 for adults; £6 for children; £31 for a family of four.

• Tours of Lord's

Metro newspaper is distributed free in many cities around the UK. Find out more: Metro newspaper website