Lightning floodlights gnarled trees and a giant iron bell.
By the time of the film six years afterward, sporting facilities such as the Sheffield Arena, Don Valley Stadium (the floodlights of which can been seen in the back of the canal scene shot), Hillsborough Leisure Centre and the Ponds Forge complex, all built for the student games, had long since waved goodbye to the young competitors – but Sheffield taxpayers were, and still are, footing the bill.
The total never looked enough after Porterfield and Ed Joyce put on an 80-run second-wicket partnership, but Ireland were denied the chance to cross the finish line when the floodlights twice went out at the Sylhet Stadium and with rain following, the match was quickly called to a halt.
In day-nighters (more rare at Lord's than elsewhere due to planning restrictions), I like to spend half an hour in the Compton Stand as dusk falls, to watch the blush pink brickwork deepen to bloody scarlet as it retreats a little, the artificial floodlights creating a new palette for our eyes to appreciate.
Supporters had not been taken into the stadium for safety reasons, they were told; then the reason changed – now it was because the electricity that fed the floodlights controlled the turnstiles.
Aigburth comes up on you unexpectedly, with no pylons to house floodlights giving away its location, no little signs pointing the way to the car parks, no tacky stands selling club favours.
An evening club session with a group indoors – a club turbo session, a swim session, or a track session outdoors under floodlights – really will improve your training.
Any hopes of a tense finish were dashed when the floodlights suddenly went off and the game lasted two balls longer before the power went out again.
In so doing, it thrust its actors back under the floodlights, though it turns out they were not won over.
Yet the club of Mortensen, Stanley Matthews and Jimmy Armfield feels like a shipwreck with floodlights, and it could get a lot worse before it gets any better.
The floodlights on the roof.
