Lord’s Cricket ground was established more than 200 years ago, and still is regarded as the most iconic cricket spots in the world. For Cricket Lovers Lords Cricket Ground is spiritual, and is often referred as Home of the Cricket, or Mecca of the Cricket. Every cricket player in this world regards playing a Test Cricket Match at Lord’s as an honor. There would possibly be no admirer of Cricket who hasn’t heard about Lord’s Cricket Ground, such is its popularity and reputation.
But we are sure that there are many things that you do not know about Lord’s Cricket Ground. In this blog we have listed some of the top facts about Lord’s Cricket Ground, and every Cricket Lover should read them to beat their friends on a Trivia night.
1 – Lord’s Cricket Ground was established in 1814. It is owned by the biggest cricket brand of this world which goes by the name of Marylebone Cricket Club. This brand also holds the Copyright of Rules of Crickets. Whenever there is a need to adding some new rules or amending some old ones, it is done by Marylebone Cricket Club.
2 – It is estimated that the net worth of Lord’s Cricket Ground is around 2.5 Billion Euros.
3 – Lord’s cricket Ground is named after its founder, who goes by the name of Thomas Lord. Between 1787 and 1814, Thomas Lord had established three grounds. The first ground he established was known as Lord’s Old Ground. The second ground that he established was known as Middle Ground which was later abandoned to ease construction of a canal. The present Lord’s Cricket Ground is located in the North West side of the middle ground, while Dorset Square stands where Lord’s Old Cricket Ground was.
4 – The Lord’s Cricket Ground is also home ground of England and Wales Cricket Board, European Cricket Club, Middlesex Country Cricket Club and was also the official home of International Cricket Council until recently when ICC moved to Dubai for tax exemption.
5 – The matches between private boys school of Eton Harrow have been the oldest permanent fixture at Lord’s. Their first match was played in 1805, second match in 1818, third match in 1822, and since then it has been a permanent annual sporting event. During its peak of popularity of these matches, it has been a hot topic of discussion amidst cricketing society of London and has even been covered by all leading national news papers.
6 – The neighborhoods surrounding Lord’s cricket ground is also a great recreational hub. The region is home many restaurants, and bars that serve delicious food and beers to the people coming to Lord’s Cricket Grounds. Some of the popular restaurants near the stadium are The Lords Tavern, Brasserie, the Boulevard London.
7 – If you are seeking once in a lifetime experience, you can also choose to dine in the popular Long Room of the Lord’s Cricket Ground. The dining room coupled with great catering service is a perfect place for a small party and the best part being that players pass through it while going to the ground in matches. The paintings in the dining hall of the Long room are all time classic depicting the rich history of the game and serve as a perfect backdrop for a memorable get together. The dining room is also coupled with a Long Room Bar for beverages.
8 – During the World War II, Lord’s cricket Ground hosted English county matches throughout, as it was not requisitioned by the military. In 1940 a massive bomb missed the nursery end stand but the Pavilion was greatly damaged that for a while halted the operations of the ground.
9 – Lord’s Cricket Club is also infamous for having a slope in the outfield, which is also known as the Lord’s slope. The North West side of the ground is two and half meters above the South West side of the ground, which also at many instances caused water logging on rainy matches. It also causes deviation during bowling, and many bowlers take its undue advantage to bounce the ball. In 2002 this slope was amended with an expenditure of about 2 Million Pounds, but the pitch still needs to fixed.
10 – Lord’s Cricket Ground was primarily built for Cricket but it also has a Tennis Ground, and in past it has also hosted archery tournaments. It is also known to have hosted a basketball match during the Great War. During the World War I it has also hosted a baseball match between the American team and the Canadian team. It was a fund raiser match for the Canadians widows and orphans.
11 – The first ever Test match played on the Lord’s Cricket Ground was between England and Australia in 1884. England won that match with an innings and 5 runs.
12 – Lord’s Cricket was one of the first cricket grounds to operate fully on 100% renewable energy. It runs of Wind energy and in recent moves have removed plastic straws from all its outlets, and have installed more water fountains to encourage usage of refillable water bottles.
13 – The changing rooms in the Lord’s cricket ground also have a couple of boards, which have the mention of players who have scored a ton on Lord’s or have taken 5 or 10 wickets in a match.
14 – In addition to the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum, the cricket ground also has a sports library which is hone to over 17,000 titles with new additions being made every year. It is the largest and the most comprehensive collection of books dedicated to Cricket. It houses, not only books, but also magazines, rare publications and even pamphlets used for cricketing events. The books and publications stored in this library cover all the aspects and history of cricket.
15 – Australia has held a record of winning back to back matches against England on Lord’s Cricket Ground between 1934 and 2009, until the Ashes series of 2009 when England finally won the second match.
16 – The owners of Lord’s Cricket Ground, Marylebone Cricket Club also have a Lifetime membership subscription available, and it is estimated that 12,000 people are in the 29 year long waiting list. To be a lifetime member you need to be aged between 16 and 40 years, and you will be required to appear in the minimum number of matches played between two consecutive years.
17 – Since decades Lord’s Cricket Ground also has a tradition of selling printed score cards after the end of the match. It is made available only after 10 minutes when the match ends, and patrons can buy it at merely 1 pound. Fans love to collect these score cards, as a souvenir or as cricket merchandise.
18 – The Lord’s Cricket Ground is also home to the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum, which started its collection back in 1864, and was inaugurated in 1953 by Duke of Edinburgh. The museum has some of the finest cricket memorabilia and records the history of the game from its emergence to modern days. Some of the item it has are the original Ashes urn, and stuffed sparrow along with the cricket ball that killed it during flight, in a match in 1936.
Lords of the Stadiums!
