Weed has come to Lord’s

I was surprised at the strong smell of marijuana smoke that wafted across Lord’s during the West Indies test match last week. Although there were occasional, passing whiffs throughout the ground, it was in the Coronation Gardens, where the psychedelically blazered MCC members and their friends meet for epic piss-ups, that distinct gusts of weed smoke were most evident.

The drug of choice for members is traditionally something from Reims or Burgundy. The new generation and their friends are clearly looking more to Jamaica, Afghanistan and rural Sussex for their selection of inebriant. I assume the barristers, city gents and assorted thespians in attendance knew this but what was so surprising was that no-one said a word. Was this stiff upper lip?

I’ve been aware of the smell of weed in the streets of American cities for some time, particularly in New York which I visit frequently.