ARCHERY: For every cricket tragic, a personal tour around the Lord’s Cricket Ground by Australian cricket legend SR Waugh is only a far reaching dream.

However, for our Australian Olympic archers, this dream turned into reality on Wednesday morning, as Athlete Liaison Officer (ALO) Steve Waugh escorted them onto the hallowed turf and into the historic pavilion after a training session at the venue.

Re-living mesmerising tales of old, Waugh had the Australian posse enchanted as they wandered past statues and portraits of Australian and English cricket doyens, through the prestigious Long Room and onto the famous visitor’s balcony and dressing room.

A huge cricket fan, archer Taylor Worth was over the moon.

“It was fantastic, certainly a once in a life time experience, a lot of people would never have that opportunity and he took us under his wing,” Worth said.

Fellow archer Elisa Barnard now understands the unique experience of walking out to compete on the Lord’s ground.

“I was talking to Steve at lunch the other day and I asked him why Lords is so special,” said Barnard.

“He said it’s not the way the ground’s set up, it’s the atmosphere and the vibe you get. I didn’t really know what he meant before today. Because when I walked out there, there really was a vibe you couldn’t explain, there was something really special about the place. I’m not a major cricket fan and I could still feel it, so it’s a real honour.”

Barnard and Worth returned the favour, handing over their bows to Waugh, who couldn’t wait to try his turn at archery.

After receiving a crash course in technique, Waugh proved that he is a man of many sporting talents, hitting the practice target with his two arrows, impressing the large gallery who came out to meet the Australian cricket icon.

After watching the Australian archery pair in action during the 30 minute familiarisation session on the field of play this morning, Waugh said although it was certainly different to see archery played at Lords, it would help raise the profile of the sport in Australia.

“I never thought I would see it like this and I’m sure the MCC members didn’t either. However it increases the profile of Lord’s across the world,” said Waugh.

“The great thing about the Olympics and archery being at Lord’s is that it will raise the profile. It is hard to get attention for minority sports in Australia because we have a lot of major sports we are great at. Archery would be a great sport for kids to get involved with.”

The Olympic archery ranking round will be held this Friday, 27 July on the Lord’s nursery, where all archers will receive their ranking from 1 to 64 based on their total score after 72 arrows.

Michelle Cook in London

Olympics.com.au