Buckingham Palace...
The day Umesh Valjee , England Cricket deaf captain, met the Queen at Buckingham Palace
Picture of England 's leading batsman,Kevin Pieterson (left) with England Cricket Association for the Deaf captain, Umesh Valjee (right)
Umesh Valjee talks to Stefan Pichowski, ECAD Chairman about the memorable day for Umesh and for ECAD.
Stefan Pichowski (SP): How did you first find out you was invited to meet the Queen along with the England full cricket team to receive their New Years' honours?
Umesh Valjee (UV): I found out about the news at Stefan's friend's house in Derby after the England training net on Saturday 24 th January 2006. Stefan received a phone call from the ECB ( England Cricket Board) and he provided them my contact details.
A few days later, I had received an official letter from the ECB to invite me and a partner to attend with the England full national squad, the England ladies team and the England disabilities teams to meet the Queen for the New Year's Honours award. This followed the successful Ashes winning series against Australia in 2005.
Following a few phones calls with the ECB, it was transparent that an interpreter needed to be organized by myself and England Cricket Association for the Deaf (ECAD). Sula Gleeson, ECAD's interpreter, was fortunately available on the day to interpret for me.
SP: How did you, your friends and family react to the news?
UV: My brother, Kiran phoned our parents when they were at the airport in South Africa as they were about to fly to India . Kiran spoke to my father "Good news for you", my father replied attempting to second guess the good news "Umesh is getting married!" Kiran eventually explained the news of my visit to the Queen. My mother was shopping around in the airport at the time and finally she heard the fantastic news as she arrived to hear the news via their mobile phone. Both of my parents were proud and choked on their emotions.
"Enjoy the day" My mother proudly stated.
"My god, I always wanted to meet the Queen, good for you" My father burst with pride and joy for me.
SP: How did you prepare for the day on Thursday 9 th February 2006?
UV: The night before, I went to the deaf night out with other deafies, in Tottenham Court Road, at the club called Room 101. Lots of people remarked that I looked scruffy but I had explained that I was meeting Her Royal Majesty and I wanted to save shaving for the morning. All my friends were amazed and pleased for me. I left the place early to get some sleep before the big day.
No surprise to me that I was unable to sleep properly and I was tossing and turning all night, visioning what it would be like.
I had put my tie and jacket in the laundry that night so I looked smart and presentable!!
SP: What happened in the morning in the build up to Lord's and Buckingham Palace ?
UV: I had set the alarm for 7:45 am but following a sleepless night, I woke up earlier!
When I left the flat, I was undecided for 30 minutes whether to take my car or take the underground tube train..! I went backward and forward to the station and to the flat and eventually I took my car to drive to Lord's.
The traffic was clear and I remember thinking "Phew, the traffic is clear!"
SP: So what time did you arrive at Lord's?!
UV: I arrived at Lord's for 10 o'clock in the morning and I saw Roger Fuggle (England Cricket Board Disability Officer), Jeff Levick (ECAD Team Manager & Hampshire Cricket Board Chairman), Sula Gleeson (ECAD Interpreter), the England ladies cricket team, representatives from England Learning Difficulty cricket team, representatives from England Blind cricket team and David Collier (ECB Chief Executive).
I showed Sula a poster of big Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff playing the sweep shot and the huge following of "Freddie" in particular following his success in the Ashes and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
There were two ECB coaches that arrived at Lord's to pick up the representatives from England Disability Cricket and the ladies and I compared them to the coaches in Lucknow, India for the Deaf World Cup. The ECB coaches were top of the range with all seats on the edge of the coach with everyone facing each other.
SP: What was the journey like?
UV: The coach I was in, stopped outside Buckingham Palace for around 5, 10 minutes. There were a few Japanese tourists taking photographs into the coach and I waved to a few of them pretending to be famous!
The police did a full security check on the buses including the luggage compartment below.
Everyone had their identifications ticked off against the register, I brought along my passport to prove my id.
SP: I hope the passport photo was agreeable! What happened in Buckingham Palace ?
UV: Once we had our identifications checked, we went into Buckingham Palace ; there were two large galleries with a sliding door in between. On one side of the galleries, there were the ladies and the disabilities teams lining up preparing to greet the Queen.
The doors opened between the galleries and opposite was the full England squad and officials facing towards us.
Sula kept asking me "Who's Freddie? Which one is Freddie?"!!
As the Queen was present and in sight, I thought "wow, the queen is in front of me and it isn't everyday you see the queen in real life".
I watched the full England squad have their photos taken and I noticed a delegate leading the Queen around for her schedule.
SP: How was you feeling at this point? Nervous?
UV: Eventually the disabilities lined-up to greet the Queen and my heart started to pump heavily, my knees were wobbling as my nerves switched off and I felt collapsing any moment. I asked Sula to feel my heart and I spotted the ladies team were observing me and laughed!
As the Queen was approaching me, I saw Roger Fuggle introducing everyone to the Queen. She looked very elegant, fit and healthy.
Jeff Levick, the Team Manager, was standing before me and Sula began to interpret for me as the Queen approach Jeff.
Eventually when the Queen approach me, I signed in BSL "Nice to meet you, Your Majesty" and I noticed how the Queen gave eye contact to me and not to Sula's interpreting.
The Queen asked me "Where have you been recently?"
"We went to India and played in the Deaf Cricket World Cup - we finished second in the final"
"Fantastic, well done" the Queen replied.
SP: So you passed with flying colours! What happened next?
UV: Prince Philip came up, with his hands behind his back, looking bewildered as Sula was standing behind him. Sula explained "sorry, I am interpreting for him". Prince Philip looked bemused "sorry, I thought he was interpreting for you!"
SP: Oh dear, maybe someone can provide a deaf awareness course! Did you have the photos taken afterwards?
UV: The men and the ladies team had their photos taken then everyone had their champagne, wine and snacks.
SP: Did you speak to anyone famous at this point?
UV: I asked Sula to follow me and there were a number of Buckingham Palace staff that approached me and asked plenty of questions. I had other agendas on my mind...
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Part II to follow
Dialogue with England Squad & ladies, trip back to Lord
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Yours in sport
Stefan Pichowski
ECAD Chairman