Sourav Ganguly recounts his spooky stay at Durham

Durham petrified Ganguly back in 2002

One of the most iconic moments from the glittering career of Sourav Ganguly has to be the 2002 tour to England. Not only did India win the Test series, the Ganguly-led team heroically staged an unprecedented run chase to clinch the final of the NatWest Tri series at Lord’s. What followed was the famous twirling of the shirt by captain Ganguly from the balcony, and the venting out of few choicest words at the victory. 

It also marked the arrival of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, and many believe that this victory was a watershed moment in Indian cricket. 

However, Ganguly was not only animated on the field but was also at the centre of a scary moment off the field. 

Recounting the sequence of events in the book titled “Beefy’s cricket tales”, Ganguly gives an elaborate account of events. 

Cricket fans would know all about the stories which float around regarding the ‘haunted castle’ in Durham, and the then Indian captain too was spooked during his stay in the manor. 

“We were up in Durham for a match at Chestler-le-Street and were being looked after at Lumley Castle, a beautiful hotel that overlooks the ground. As a captain, I was taken up to my suite and I must say it was a magnificent room with everything you could want. We finished training for the day, with the match due to be played the following morning, and I went back to my room before heading out for dinner. When I returned, I closed the curtains and switched off all the lights and climbed into bed,” Ganguly writes. 

However, the captain says that he could not sleep immediately and had a very erratic night, and was awoken by the running of the taps in the bathroom. 

“I got up, switched on the lights and went to turn off the water. The taps were already off. I thought I must have dreamt it or heard it from another room. I went back to bed, making sure everything was turned off and the place was quiet, then fell back asleep.”

Alas, the captain was awoken in another half an hour by the sound of running water, and this spooked him. He says, he checked but the taps were off, and hence could not understand what was going on. 

“I decided to keep the lights on, to see if I could sleep that way, but I couldn’t- I just lay awake, listening to the silence of Durham.”

However, this would not go on for a long time, as Ganguly decided to switch off the lights again, and go back to sleep, only to be awoken again by running water. 

“I jumped out of bed and ran out... I was terrified. I went to Robin Singh’s room, knocked on his door and asked if I could come in and stay in his room. I was the captain, so I couldn’t tell him I was scared and was worried about the ghosts, could I? I told him the floor would be fine and he was very kind to let me stay.”

The Bengal boy never stayed at Lumley Castle again, but concedes that he was thrilled when he heard that the West Indians in 2004 and the Australians in 2005 had a similar experience with the Lumley ghost.