In three weeks time it will be 5 years since the ban on cricket fans being allowed to come onto the pitch for the celebrations on the final day and being able watch the presentation ceremony in the pavilion. Now, the presentation takes place on the pitch and the public remain in their seats.
What changed it all? A solitary beer can thrown by a pakistan supporter in 2001 in a match Australia vs Pakistan at Lords.
Cricinfo provides some info on the incident which i feel was an overreaction by the authorities. It was one of my favourite moments as a child being able to walk around after a match on the Lord’s turf which is like a carpet – I would sometimes take my shoes off it was that soft.

I do have a point somewhere in this story in that grounds around the country have had to recruit huge amounts of security staff and make it clear to fans that they can’t go on the pitch for in my opinion very little gain. I also have huge issues with australian sportsmen and as with many english am always wanting us to win the series against them.

We have photos at home taken of the complete panoramic scenes of the cricket ground and it’s hard to realise that i will never get to see that again in real life for an international ground. In other countries such as india and pakistan they put 10 foot fences up to prevent fans coming onto the ground and have done for 20 years. But in the UK 20 years ago you could actually sit on the grass during the game if the seats were all sold out or even the benches put out on the boundary line it just seems wrong. Australia, South Africa, and West Indies are largely the same and you feel that the same would happen, but the regulatory bodies have decreed that no member of the public should enter the field of play and they should be prosecuted. It’s largely been fine the net result has been very few people staying for the presentation ceremony and I often wish that Michael Bevan had not been struck by that beer can and that it had not been thrown
Here he is after being struck by the can: