August 4, 1975. The he fourth day’s play at Lord’s between England and Australia was held up for a while by a pioneering intruder, the feats of whom have been repeated often in future. Arunabha Sengupta revisits the antics of the first streaker in the history of Lord’s.
4 Aug 1975. Lord’s.
His name was exactly the same as the great Italian renaissance sculptor, but for an embedded ‘a’ and a trailing ‘w’. Yet, in the nude, he lacked much of the perfection of the marble form of Michelangelo’s David.
Michael Angelow streaked through Lord’s like a short-lived meteor, but blazed a lasting trail on the Mecca of cricket. It would not be fabrication —nay, fabric is hardly permissible in the context—to say that he started a trend… A trend that proved itself in the test of time, if not necessarily ending up as time-honoured.
On the fourth afternoon of the Ashes Test, England were on 399 for six, Alan Knott and Bob Woolmer at the wicket. The declaration was not far away, and most eyes sought Tony Greig on the balcony, wondering when he would call his men in.
And suddenly, as Dennis Lillee completed an over and the fielders ambled across the field to take up their positions for the next, Michael Angelow appeared.
A navy cook, up to his tonsils in Australian Lager, and having wagered with bravado against his mates, Angelow sprinted into the hallowed cricket ground, dressed in nothing but his plimsolls and an XL-sized smile.
While the Australian fielders stood dumbstruck by the novelty of the event, he jumped over the stumps at the Nursery End, thereby setting the benchmark for subsequent streakers to emulate. Luckily the balls, swinging away, sailed safely over the wicket.
The local constabulary closed in on him as he made for the Mound Stand, and here is how John Arlott described this remarkable piece of action from the Test Match Special commentary box.
“We have got a freaker down the wicket now. Not very shapely, and it is masculine, and I would think he has seen the last of his cricket for the day … he is being embraced by a blonde policeman. This may well be his last public appearance – but what a splendid one!”
Alan Turner, the Australian batsman, is said to have been in splits. The Bank Holiday crowd thoroughly enjoyed this interlude as the Test dwindled towards a draw.
As he was marched out, Arlott continued: “And he is getting a very good reception.”
Later, Angelow admitted that he had waited for Dennis Lillee to finish his over, because he loved the game and did not want to disrupt it.
When produced in court, the magistrate fined him £10, the exact amount bet against him by his cronies. Upon hearing the judgement, his friends stood up in the courtroom and applauded, cheerfully paying his fine.
It did open the floodgates for other like-minded spectators , strictly adhering to similar dress code, to run into cricket grounds around the world, parading their assets, often performing the full monty of leaping over the stumps.
It also left a lasting impression on Greg Chappell, whose lifelong crusade against these displays of naked ambition saw him tackling, pulling the hair and smacking the bottoms of a number of intruders who followed suit … to denude the grounds.