Another glorious day at Lord's, and the sunshine has apparently brought out the best in everyone. The gate-stewards - often given a bad press - seem to be more relaxed than usual, searching each bag only once before waving the paying public through. A few families take the opportunity to start picnicking at the side of the Nursery Ground before the start of play, basking in the unaccustomed heat. It's a different story down in the shadowy depths of the Edrich Stand Lower, where watching the cricket through a letterbox-shaped gap is a little like viewing a widescreen film on TV. Still, at least there's plenty of leg-room, although the tiers of seating aren't very steep, so the vertically challenged among us are forced to duck and weave from side to side. Then the people behind them have to follow suit, which creates an interesting ripple effect through the stand.

The punters here are deprived of both the sunshine and the replay screen, but they remain cheerful, remarking that at least they won't get sunburnt, and adding with great cynicism that they'll be okay if it rains. There's a mixture of old-timers - those who come to the Test here every year - and new visitors, and pre-play banter and predictions abound. Andrew, down from Buckinghamshire on his first trip to Lord's, confidently predicts that Alec Stewart will reach the century in his record-breaking Test, and is almost crestfallen when Stewart departs without adding to his overnight score. Merriment ensues in the stand, but Andrew cheers up later when his other tips - Hussain will make 150, England will pass 450 - are fulfilled.

Kumal, aged 9, is also making his Lord's debut. While busily eating chips, he explains that his favourite player is Sachin Tendulkar (surprise, surprise) and that he is looking forward to seeing him bat. His father, AJ, rather more pragmatically, looks at the England batsmen ratting along and says he'll be surprised if that happens today: "I like to see him, but if it doesn't happen, I won't be upset." Kumal seems almost overwhelmed by the excitement of it all, as are the group of children in matching bright green t-shirts and horribly clashing red caps. Well, at least they won't get lost.

The stand is still fairly empty at the start of play, but the crowd trickles in, shown to their seats by our friendly neighbourhood stewards, Suresh and Kashif, both from India and both heroically maintaining their neutrality while on duty.

Smiling stewards, blazing sunshine, England piling on the runs … are we really at Lord's in the year 2002? Yes we are, and we're all having a great time.

Catherine Hanley is a university lecturer, a keen cricketer and a regular contributor to Wisden.com. She was born in Tasmania and now lives in Sheffield, England.

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