Hello and welcome to Stumped, your intercontinental hit of news,
features, and debate from the quirky world of cricket. I'm Alison Mitchell in London,
where the mood has been sombre and emotional at times as the world remembers Queen Elizabeth II,
the UK's longest serving monarch, who died at Balmoral, aged 96 after reigning for 70 years.
I've just driven away from the Oval Test match in South London on the day it was announced that the
Queen had passed away, and I live about 20 minutes away from Buckingham Palace. The following day,
I did feel compelled to make that short tube journey to Green Park to walk across the park
with many others had come there to then stand at the Victoria Memorial right in front of the
palace gates where the flag was at half-mast, just to be with others at the start of what has been a
very moving and historical passage of time in this country. Yes, Alison. Jim Maxwell
for the ABC in Sydney and of course, there's been lots of reaction around Australia. In many places
like the MCG posted "from sunset this evening until the evening of Her Majesty's funeral, we
join other landmarks around the city in lighting up purple as a token of Victoria's respect and
gratitude to Queen Elizabeth II." Who, apart from all the other accomplishments in her remarkable
life is remembered in a country that's still a strong monarchy as the Queen of Australia.
Well, I'm afraid that is no longer the case in India. I'm Charu Sharma for All India radio and I don't think there's
any part of the world that has been unmoved by the sad loss of Queen Elizabeth II. And among the
many other VVIP views, the views of dignitaries, let me just quote Sachin Tendulkar. Of course,
the biggest icon of cricket in our part of the world, as saying "Saddened to hear about
the passing away of Queen Elizabeth II. I had the opportunity to meet her in person on a number of
occasions, and the love & respect that people had for her was heartening to see. My deepest
condolences to her family and dear ones." Also from across the border, the Rawalpindi Express,
the legendary fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar tweeted "7 Decades, 15 Prime Ministers. 1 Queen. I had the
honour of meeting her during 1999 World Cup." I'm actually in Chennai for the Chennai Open WTA,
and one of the tennis legends of India, Vijay Amritraj, met just about every dignitary around
the world actually lamented, saying one of the few who he regretted not meeting was the Queen.
Scenes have been quite remarkable, particularly across London and the cricket world has been
paying tributes this week, marking what we could say is the most remarkable innings and remembering
Queen Elizabeth II. She was just 21 years old and still Princess Elizabeth when she made her first
official visit to Lord's, that was in 1947 with her father, King George VI. And she went back
there numerous times during her reign. She hosted cricketers for tea at Buckingham Palace and was
patron of the MCC as well. And on Saturday, while crowds continued to gather outside Buckingham
Palace, I was then back a couple of miles away at the Oval and England's men were preparing to take
on South Africa in the final Test match of the summer. After rain on the first day, evening came
and news of the Queen's death. The second day was called off as a mark of respect. There was then a
lot of discussion about whether the match should be played and some sports like football called off
all their fixtures for the weekend, but it was determined that the match would be played as a
way of paying tribute to the Queen. Before play started on what was then day three, without even
being asked for quiet by a PA, the crowd just fell completely silent as the players from both sides
started filing down the steps from the dressing room to the outfield, and it was extraordinary to
witness that voluntary stillness. The teams lined up; the players all wore black armbands, they
filed out to a military guard of honour and there was a formal minute's silence, which was observed
impeccably. Charu, the Indian government declared a day of national mourning last Sunday as a mark
of respect to Her Majesty the Queen. Just give us a sense of what that day was like in India.
Well, there were lots of reminiscences, that's for sure. There are many people who had access to her
or who had met her. I think there was a piece on how the Prime Minister when he last met her,
the Queen then showed him a handkerchief presented to her by Mahatma Gandhi. All the way
back during the coronation. So, there were lots of memories shared. There is also a new
nationalism going on in India now, where all sorts of renaming is taking place. In fact,
the Rajpath which was earlier Kingsway, where the presidential palaces and the centre of New Delhi,
has been renamed Kartavya Path. So, there's also the other side where a lot of people
are saying it's time to move away completely or as much as possible from the past legacies that
were left behind. So, it's all a mixed emotion here really, but I think individually speaking,
nobody would take away from the fact that the Queen was loved in many places around the world,
and certainly respected deeply in our part of the world as well. And Jim in Australia,
there's been extensive coverage across the media. Again, a slightly complex picture. Australia with
the Republican debate and the perspective of indigenous First Nations people as well but
give us a sense of what the scenes have been like. Well, there's been a great outpouring
of sadness around the death, as I say, the Queen of Australia. Let's face it, she made a triumphal
visit, as it were, in 1954 as a young Queen and spent a couple of months here and she's been here
16 times. She's opened the new Parliament House, the Opera House. Her face beamed from the sails of
the Sydney Opera House the other night. There was a 96-gun salute at Parliament House in Canberra,
flags lowered at half-mast, so there's a lot of affection in the memory of her many visits here.
And of course, it is well remembered by a lot of Australians that Prince, now King Charles,
came here to Timbertop at Geelong Grammar all those years ago as a student. So, the
connection between the Royal Family and Australia has been very strong, but there's certainly been a
reminder in the face of the history of Australia, which goes beyond two hundred and something years
of British colonisation of the oldest nation on the Earth. And the indigenous Australians
once again are making sure that there is a sense of perspective about the way we look
at the situation regarding the death of a monarch against the ancient history of those Australians.
Those now known as the First Nation Australians, who have more and more a place in our society than perhaps they
had when the Queen took over from her father in the 1950s. Sometimes events like this,
in fact, strengthen the feeling around monarchy. Extraordinary scenes in London with the coffin
lying in state in Westminster Hall and the line-up for miles and miles down the River Thames and
winding its way through hours and hours. People are waiting to pay their respects. Well, let's get
a little more insight now from somebody who has met the Queen on more than one occasion. Joining
us is the former England captain and Southern vipers coach, Charlotte Edwards. Great to have
you on, tell us about the first time you met the Queen. The first time was when I was quite young,
actually. I got invited to Buckingham Palace as her young achiever and it was an unbelievable
moment, and I had the honour of meeting her a few more times through cricket in the years that I
played. Probably the most memorable was when I received my CBE at Windsor Castle in 2014. So,
yes, I feel very fortunate to have met her. It's well known that the Queen has a love of
horse racing. In fact, one of Australia's leading trainer Chris Waller is going to
the funeral. But as we have been discussing, she did attend cricket matches on numerous occasions.
One of them recently in 2013 - The Ashes Test at Lord's - when you manage to have a conversation
with her. What did you talk about? Yes. It's probably my claim to fame, actually Jim.
I was really lucky in that in the committee room to be asked to sit by her.
Me and James Sutherland had sort of five minutes with her and in that time that I was with her,
Joe Root actually reviewed a decision and it was probably one of the first years DRS was brought
in, actually. And she asked me straight away, as soon as Joe Root had given the sign, "what did that mean?"
So my claim to fame is I taught the Queen DRS. I love it. Hopefully successfully and she did
tell me she'd go home and tell Phillip. So, it was it was a wonderful moment. I've never forgotten it and hopefully
she'll always remember that I taught her the DRS ruling. Charlotte, hi. This a Charu Sharma from India.
Glad you could teach the Queen something. If we could go back at the moment that
she walked into the Long Room. What's your memory of that? How special was it for you and those surrounding you?
Yeah, I was actually explaining to a few of the players I coach the other day
that it was probably one of those moments you'll never forget. When she walked into that Lord's
Long Room, it was like literally you could not hear a pin drop. It was unbelievable. When I
received my CBE and singing the national anthem when she walks in, literally the hairs on the
back of my neck stood up. It was such a special moment. I remember it like it was yesterday. So,
I think every person that has met her has probably had that type of feeling. I remember at Lord's,
it being certain things we had to say. Obviously, Her Majesty when you first speak to her and then,
Ma'am from there on. I don't think I've ever been that nervous in my life and I've played in some
pretty big games of cricket but meeting the Queen and her then speaking to me and she's so lovely.
She makes you feel so welcome as well. She said how well that women had been doing, the men needed
to play better. This was back in 2014 but, yeah. It was pretty special but very nerve racking.
Thanks so much for sharing your memories and good luck because I know you're off to Australia as
well to the WBBL later on as well. Thanks very much and good luck for the rest of the year.
Thanks, Ali. Cheers, everyone. Charlotte Edwards, the former England captain sharing her
memories of meeting the Queen. The Queen's presence has touched and impacted entire generations.
That includes the many sportsmen and women who she met over the years and one of those is the former
Indian wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer. He's been telling us his favourite memory of meeting the Queen.
Well, I need to have a good memory. It happened over 50 years ago - in 1967 to be precise.
I was in the Long Room at Lord's. The prelude to that is my mother was taken very ill
and to hospital in Bombay. I was playing cricket and I was summoned from a cricket match. I was by
her bedside, and I was told that she wasn't going to live the night. So naturally, I was in tears,
and she put her hand on my head and said, "don't cry son. I promise to come back as
your first child." And then it happened in 1967 and my wife was expecting and delivering in
Bombay, and they sent a telegram in those days. The telegram was sent to Clarendon Court Hotel,
opposite Lord's Cricket Ground. They sent it to Lord's Cricket Ground on the morning of the match.
We were all in the Long Room with Her Majesty the Queen and both the teams, of course.
Billy Griffiths, the secretary of the MCC was handed over the telegram thinking it could be either
good or bad news or whatever. So, he opened the telegram. He looked at me and smiled. I thought,
this could be that I was expecting the message any minute. So he handed over the cable to
Her Majesty, who probably came to me smiling and said, "Engineer. I have wonderful news for you." I had to
ask her, "what is it? A boy or a girl, Ma'am?" And she said, "well, what did you want?" I said, "a girl."
She said, "well, you've got one!" It happened at the spur of the moment and all so quickly. Within
a couple of minutes of course, my team-mates went hurray and there were cheers. Sorry. There are no
cigars as it was the start of the Test match. My mum was called Minnie and my daughter was named
Minnie after her. It doesn't happen very often, so one doesn't forget it very easily and coming
from someone like Her Majesty the Queen is a very humbling moment indeed, and an experience
that you would never, ever want to forget. What a story that is from Farokh Engineer, the former
India wicketkeeper. Can you believe though when Queen Elizabeth II was named Queen of England,
India were yet to win a Test match and Pakistan were yet to play one. Cricket has certainly come
a long way in the course of the 70 years that the Queen was on the throne. Let's turn our attention
to matters on the field for now because there have been celebrations on the streets of Sri Lanka,
after the country's cricketers won the Asia Cup. The men beat Pakistan by 23 runs in the final in
Dubai. Now, a lot of people had written off Sri Lanka's chances, especially after they lost their
opening match to Afghanistan. Even in the final, victory didn't look particularly likely when
Sri Lanka slipped to 58-5, but Bhanuka Rajapaksa hit an unbeaten 71 from 45 balls as Sri Lanka posted
170-6 and in response, Pakistan were all out for just 147 in 20 overs, meaning Sri Lanka claimed
their sixth Asia Cup title. Charu, the nation has been going through political and economic turmoil,
crisis, even and things on the field weren't looking promising either because they had won
only two T20 internationals in the year of 2022 up to that point. What does this victory mean to the players and their fans?
This is a remarkable win in terms of bringing them back into international
consciousness that early can win biggish titles. I know this is only a regional tournament, the Asia
Cup, but they have got some very strong teams. India and Pakistan included and Afghanistan is also
on the way up. It certainly meant a lot and the fact that they recovered from their early loss and
actually beat Pakistan who were on a real high after beating India in the final four stage.
So, overall, fantastic recovery for Sri Lankan cricket. Remember this is the shortest format.
So of course they need to extend it to one-dayers and Test matches as well, because the shorter the
match as we know, the less the difference between teams. So, anything can happen, but a very big win
for not just the team, but for the whole nation. This is unlike sometimes you win a few bilateral
series, it doesn't really mean that much. But the Asia Cup win was very big for Sri Lanka. Without question.
And only India have won more Asia Cup titles than Sri Lanka - seven - but in India were
the pre-tournament favourites, weren't they, but failed to reach the final. So what has the
reaction been in India to that? Extremely critical and just about everybody who has a
cricketing voice was up in arms about the selection process because there was a bit of a churn.
I think Rahul Dravid and the captain, and the rest of the Think Tank were trying to...
If one can use the term 'experiment' ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia a month from now.
That experimentation obviously didn't work. Some key personnel were missing. Whether they
were rested or injured, those sound like excuses, but on the other hand, we talk about that depth
of cricket in India, where there are at least maybe two or three teams or elevens that can
compete equally at the international level. That was shown up when two or three of the best
players are missing, India underperformed and were definitely not the best team on the park. So, yeah
a lot of criticism and just as important as the tournament victory was for Sri Lanka, it was an
important eye opener for India that we are not as strong a T20 force as we would like to believe we
are. The fact that few people were missing is something that has led to a lot of selectorial questions,
and of course, the T20 team is out and hope you do well at the World Cup, but it was it shook the
nation up that we lost so badly. Well, that's all we've got time for on this week's Stumped.
I hope you've enjoyed the show and the memories that we've recalled as well. My thanks to
Jim Maxwell and Charu Sharma and of course to all of you and we'll see you again next week. Bye bye.