A little piece of Hungary at Headingley (6 June 1999)

6 June 1999

A little piece of Hungary at Headingley

John Polack

Forget the Pavilion or Headingley's famous Western Terrace. The best vantage point at Headlingley is not even in the ground. The balcony of the Hotel Budapest at 16-18 Cardigan Road, Leeds is sacred turf in a city in which cricket has always commanded a strong place in the sporting and emotional psyche. It's at a wide and very deep mid off when a right hander is facing bowling from the Cardigan Road End. It's cheap, there are no queues for the toilet or the bar, and there's plenty of legroom.

Alan Frost has travelled to the balcony for every one of the last seven years from nearby Harrogate, with three friends from the Markington Snooker Club. "The facilities are far superior to facilities in the ground, the seating arrangements are quite good, and the viewing is excellent," he said. His son, Stuart, added, "we just saw the balcony one day when we were sitting in the ground and thought that it'd be the thing to do to come up here."

World Cups tend to encourage the extraordinary both on the field and in the stands. But there are few things as strange to those of us from parts of the world outside the UK than the sight of cricketing enthusiasts assuming vantage points outside the ground itself. Headingley is not the only ground where you can see spectators languishing on balconies of private houses or hotels. The Oval and Old Trafford, not to mention a host of minor grounds, also offer sight lines for the non-paying spectator.

On the balcony of the Hotel Budapest today, as New Zealand and Zimbabwe fired the opening salvos in their debut Super Six match, were a collection of fans who have come from different parts of the country, but whose passion for the game is completely unabashed.

Gavin Easterbrook, a solidly built, pleasant young Englishman, is there among a group of four animated friends and his mindset is typical of the twenty or so fans seated around him. Such is their fervour for this experience that Gavin and his colleagues have come all the way from Portsmouth, at almost the completely opposite end of the country.

"We were here (at the same vantage point) two weeks ago for Pakistan versus Australia" said Gavin. "One year, we just decided to come up here, the atmosphere is great, so my mates and I have come ever since."

Gavin booked well in advance so he could secure a balcony pass issued by the hotel owners for the occasion - passes which are free to hotel guests but incur a small fee for 'visitors'.

None of the English fans on the balcony were too impressed with the organisers' lip service to the idea of a carnival of cricket or the English team's performance. But they don't really care. They're here for the cricket.

"The Cup has been a fabulous and absolutely wonderful cricketing exhibition," says Alan. Alan and friends would like to see a team like Zimbabwe win ("it would give a big boost to in that country") while Gavin said, "it would be nice to see Australia or New Zealand win because I've done a bit of travelling around those two countries". So much for backing the home team.

Hotel Budapest is so well known that it attracts overseas visitors too. Bill Flower, the father of the famous Andy and Grant combination, has been staying at the hotel as well (a Zimbabwean flag is draped proudly outside his room window) and Pakistanis and Australians were in abundance a fortnight ago . Many South African and Australian followers have apparently already made bookings to stay in a week's time when their teams are due to clash.

The inextricable connection between her hotel and the sport (and its capacity to deliver her a guaranteed supply of custom at this time of the year) makes Hotel Budapest owner Ibolya Kemeny, who has been in Leeds for 26 years, probably the only Hungarian cricket fan in England (if not the world). She generally likes the Australian guests the best, as they remain happy regardless of whether their side wins or loses, but she adds that she and her staff (the number of whom generally increases dramatically on days when cricket is being played at Leeds) enjoy mixing with all of the different guests who make their way through her doors and onto the most cosmopolitan balcony in Yorkshire.