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Lord's Cricket Ground
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Lord's Ground is a cricket ground in St John's Wood in London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the European Cricket Council (ECC); 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 on its original site. It was originally located in the area now known as Dorset Square, before moving to a location 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 close to the site of the previous ground on 9 May 2006 by Andrew Strauss.
Lord's is home to the oldest sporting museum in the world .
Early history
There have been three Lord's Cricket Grounds. The original was founded by Thomas Lord in 1787 on the site of what is now Dorset Square. The first regular cricket fixture at Lord's (one that continues to this day) was the annual Eton v. Harrow cricket match which was first played in 1805.
Lord was obliged to relocate in 1810 to a site called Lisson Grove in the vicinity of Regent's Park but he lost that venue after only three years because the land was requisitioned for a canal cutting. In 1814, the present Lord's ground, formerly a duckpond, was founded.
Ground
Stands
The current stands at Lord's are as follows (in a clockwise direction):
- The Pavilion
- Warner Stand
- Grandstand
- Compton Stand
- Media Centre
- Edrich Stand
- Mound Stand
- Tavern Stand
- Allen Stand
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 followed by the Grandstand (by Nicholas Grimshaw) in 1994. Most notably, the Media Centre (by Future Systems) was added in 1998-9 which won The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize for 1999.
The ground can currently hold up to 32,000 spectators. However, a major redevelopment has been proposed, which would increase capacity by another 10,000 as well as adding apartments and an ice rink.
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.
Pavilion The main survivor of the Victorian era is The Pavilion with its famous Long Room; this was built in 1889-90 to the designs of architect Thomas Verity. Recently, this historic landmark - a Grade II*-listed building - underwent an £8 million refurbishment programme in 2004-05.
Grandstand
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 Grand Stand in 1996.
Media Centre
On Thursday, March 22nd 2006 the MCC announced that the new sponsor of the iconic Media Centre at Lord's will be Investec, the international specialist banking group. Investec has committed to a three-year sponsorship deal, through until the end of the 2009 Ashes Series in England.
The agreement delivers an extensive package of rights including the naming of the building - the Investec Media Centre - corporate entertainment facilities and widespread branding at 'The Home of Cricket'.
The 'Investec' Media Centre holds the press and commentators for any games held at Lords.
During the 2005 Ashes, the Media Centre was sponsored by Natwest until Investec took over a year later.
Tavern Stand
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 organisation's founders used to congregate. The pub no longer exists, and the Tavern Stand now stands on its former site. However, a new pub is open in the grounds with the same name as well as the Members Bar, in the Pavilion.
Field
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.
The outfield was notorious for becoming waterlogged and under the chairmanship of the Estates Committee by Maurice de Rohan the whole outfield was relaid over the winter of 2002-2003. The investment (some £2m) was almost immediately repaid by reducing the need to make ticket refunds in rain-affected matches
Floodlights It was announced recently that permanent floodlights were to be installed inside the ground with the floodlit Pro40 game between Middlesex and Derbyshire to be the inaugural match under the lights at Lords in September 2007.
After the success in 2007 another match in the 2008 season has been scheduled to be played under the floodlights at Lord's.
Cricket Usage Lord's hosts Test matches, One-day Internationals, Middlesex home matches, MCC matches and (starting with a fixture between Middlesex and Surrey in July 2004) some of Middlesex's home Twenty20 games.
Lord's typically hosts two Tests every summer - including the first Test of the summer - plus two one-day internationals.
Lord's also plays host to the finals of the National Village Cricket Competition, the MCC Universities Challenge tournament and The Friends Provident Trophy. Furthermore, two matches in the Twenty20 Cup, but not the competition's finals day, are played at Lord's each season.
The oldest permanent fixture at Lord's (indeed the world) is the annual Eton versus Harrow match which began in 1805 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.
The MCC MuseumLord'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.
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 of Cambridge University in delivering a ball to T.N. Pearce batting for M.C.C on July 3rd, 1936. It also contains the battered 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 artefacts and also commissions new paintings, and work from the "MCC Young Cricket Photographer". A recently opened exhibition, which celebrates the life and career of Brian Lara, is especially suitable for children. 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 14 2008 England have played 116 Test matches at Lord's winning 42, losing 28 and drawing 46. Famously, England have not won an Ashes Test match at Lord's since 1934. 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, or 10 wickets in a match, being inscribed on the honours boards in the home and away dressing rooms.
Lords host 2 Test matches each summer, one game for each visiting teams.
However the ECB may impose a 1 Test per ground for the summer, the MCC have looked into talking to the ECB over the proposal.
Other sportsA baseball game was held at Lord's during the Great War to raise funds for the Canadian Widows and Orphans Fund. A Canadian team played an American team in a match watched by 10,000 people. Bowls, tennis, archery and several other sports have been played at Lord's in the past, but never rugby or football. Recently, there has been talk about staging Major League Baseball games at Lord's in the near future.
Lord's is also one of the planned venues for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The archery competition will take place in front of the Pavilion, with the archers positioned in front of the Allen Stand and the targets placed in front of the Grand Stand.
Lord's also houses a Real Tennis court.
See also
Citations
External links
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