Lord’s Cricket Ground
Lord’s Cricket Ground is popularly known as the Home of Cricket and is situated in the St John’s Wood district of London. Given that Thomas Lord founded the cricket grounds and the stadium over 200 years back in 1814, it’s no wonder that Lord’s is the oldest and also the most prestigious international cricket stadium in the modern world.
A Few Interesting Titbits About the Legendary Cricket Stadium
The ancient, prestigious stadium has so many historical attachments to it for cricket lovers that it would be impossible to state them all without missing out on a few. Nevertheless, a brief look through some of the most interesting facts about the Lord’s Cricket Ground shows that over two centuries, Lord’s has remained one of the most, if not the most interesting cricket grounds in the world.
- Thomas Lord had two Lord’s cricket grounds to his name already, before the third and current Lord’s Cricket Grounds was constructed
- Despite being home to English cricket, multiple generations of English cricket teams failed to win a single test match against the Aussies for 75 years (1934 – 2009)
- The Museum and Film Theatre in Lord’s is not just the oldest cricket museum, but it is also the oldest sports museum in existence
- Lord’s was the first and only international cricket ground to have a North – South slope on pitch
- In July 2014, the only ever MCC XI VS World XI match was held on the Lord’s Cricket Ground to celebrate the iconic stadium’s 200th birthday
- Lord’s played host to a fundraiser baseball game in 1917 to aid the Canadian Widows and Orphans Fund during the Great War
- The MCC-owned cricket ground runs entirely on renewable energy today, and is the first of its kind
What Can You Do in Lords?
Contrary to popular belief, people do not just visit the Lord’s Cricket Ground to watch cricket matches. The grounds house the world’s oldest sports stadium, aka, the Museum and Film Theatre of Lord’s. It’s filled with historical artifacts and oddities related to the origin and commencement of cricket throughout the centuries.
For example, there is a taxidermized sparrow, on top of a cricket ball in the museum, called the Lord’s Sparrow. The bird was killed by a delivery, after the ball had hit the poor bird mid-flight in 1936. Both the ball and the sparrow are the original murderer and victim respectively!
Look Around for More Sites
Being located in an ideal spot for some short exploratory trips, don’t forget to visit the following places while you are there to see the Lord’s Cricket Ground:
- Church of Our Lady St John’s Wood and the surrounding grounds
- Hyde Park
- The British Museum
- The Camden Market
- Regent’s Canal and Park
- While it is located nearly 5 km from the Lord’s Cricket Grounds, the Westminster Abbey is a must-visit if you come to this part of London
When you are not there to see a cricket match in Lord’s, there’s plenty to see around it, and the MCC museum is a must visit for any cricket fan. Even for those that are not into cricket, the ancient grounds and the area surrounding it will provide them with plenty of sites to marvel at.
