Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in St John's Wood in London, at grid reference . It is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB); and until August 2005, the International Cricket Council (ICC). Lord's is often referred to as the Home of Cricket. Lord's today is not the original site, which was used by MCC during the summers of 1811, 1812 and 1813 before being abandoned due to the construction, through its outfield, of the Regent's Canal. This led to MCC moving around 250 yards north-west, to its current home, in 1814. A plaque was unveiled at the site of the old ground on 9th May 2006 by Andrew Strauss.

Ground

Much of Lord's Cricket Ground was rebuilt in the late 20th century. In 1987 the new Mound Stand, designed by Sir Michael Hopkins, was opened. The Grand Stand (by Nicholas Grimshaw) and the Media Centre (by Future Systems) followed in 1998-9. In 2002-3 the entire outfield was relaid and a much-improved drainage system installed. There is also redevelopment continuing on the historic pavilion, particularly the famous Long Room, through which every player comes before entering the field of play.

The two ends of the pitch are the Pavilion End (south-west), where the main members' pavilion is located, and the Nursery End (north-east), dominated by the Media Centre. The Pavilion was built in 1890.

One of the most distinctive and famous features of the Lord's ground is the significant slope across the field. The north-west side of the playing surface is some eight feet higher than the south-east side. This slope causes appreciable deviation in bounce of the ball on the pitch, making it easier to move the ball in to right-handed batsmen when bowling from the Pavilion End, and easier to move it away when bowling from the Nursery End.

Another highly visible feature of the ground is the weather vane in the shape of Father Time, currently adorning a stand on the south-east side of the field. Sir Herbert Baker presented Lord's with the weather vane in 1926. It adorned the north-western stand until it was replaced by the new Main Grandstand in 1996.

The Lord's Taverners, a charitable group comprising cricketers and cricket-lovers, take their name from the old Tavern pub at Lord's, where the club's founders used to congregate. The pub no longer exists, and the Tavern Stand now stands on its former site.

St. John's Wood tube station is nearby, whilst the Chiltern railway line runs under the practice ground at the Nursery End. Lord's gave its name to a tube station which closed in 1939.

Usage

Lord's hosts Test matches, one day internationals, Middlesex home matches, MCC matches and (starting with a match between Middlesex and Sussex in July 2004) Twenty20 matches.

Lord's typically hosts the first Test of the summer, such as The Ashes and the second One-Day match of an English home series. Previously, Lord's would have hosted the second Test in July, as part of the season.

Lord's also often plays host to the second semi-final or the third quarter-final (as well as the overall final) of a County series or championship, as well as the final of the National Village Cricket Competition.

The oldest permanent fixture at Lord's (indeed the world) is the annual Eton versus Harrow match which began in 1805 (Lord Byron played in the 1805 Harrow XI) and celebrated its bicentennial in 2005. The match is always fiercely contested. Since 2000 it has been 55 overs per side, but before that it was declaration and before that it was 2 innings per side over 2 days. Eton has the balance of wins, but the victor in the bicentenary year was Harrow.

Lord's is also one of the planned venues for the 2012 Summer Olympics. It is envisioned that the archery competitions will take place in front of the Pavilion, with the wicket moved down to the Nursery End with the help of new portable pitch technology.

The MCC Museum

Lord's is the home of the MCC Museum, which is the oldest sports museum in the world, and contains the world's most celebrated collection of cricket memorabilia, including The Ashes. The MCC has been collecting memorabilia since 1864. The items on display include cricket kit used by the likes of Victor Trumper, Jack Hobbs, Don Bradman and Shane Warne, many items related to the career of W.G. Grace; and curiosities such as the stuffed sparrow that was 'bowled out' by Jahangir Khan in 1936, and the copy of Wisden that helped to sustain E.W. Swanton through his captivity in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. The Museum continues to collect historic artifacts and also commissions new paintings, and work from the "MCC Young Photographer". It contains the Brian Johnston Memorial Theatre, a cinema which screens historical cricket footage for visitors. A visit to the MCC Museum is included in the guided tours of the ground which take place daily. Alternatively, it can be visited on match-days by ticket-holding spectators for a separate charge.

Test matches at Lord's

Over one hundred Test matches have been played at Lord's, the first in 1884 when England defeated Australia by an innings and 5 runs. Australia's first win was in 1888 by 61 runs. South Africa played their first Test match at Lord's in 1907 and the ground was the host to an Australia v South Africa Test match in 1912. The West Indies appeared in a Test match at Lord's for the first time in 1928, to be followed by New Zealand (1931), India (1932), Pakistan (1954), Sri Lanka (1984), Zimbabwe (2000) and Bangladesh (2005). The hundredth Lord's Test match was in 2000 v West Indies. As of July 2005 England have played 109 Test matches at Lord's winning 42, losing 27 and drawing 40. Personal achievements by cricketers in Test matches at the ground are recognised with the names of century makers and of bowlers taking 5 wickets (in an innings) being inscribed on the boards in the home and away dressing rooms.

External links

Westminster | 2012 Summer Olympic venues | Visitor attractions in London | Sports venues in London | Cricket grounds in England