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- Jan 13, 2010
Since I was about 7 years old I had heard about the brilliant, somewhat overwhelming feeling when a cricket fanatic is on the perimeter of Lords cricket Ground.
It is a mysterious and haunting place given the unbelievable history of the ground and the legendary cricketing moments that have been created at the venue that will have people talking of for years to come.
But, when you get within those perimeter’s the experience is surreal and I wish to share this experience with all of you. In 2008 I finally made the trip and at long last I have found time to write about it.
Instead of digging into the history of the ground and all that stuff you can read up on yourself, I would rather share with you the things that really made it worth the 15 year wait for me.
But of course and introduction is needed here from the early days of the game.
The game seems to have officially originated in Hambledon, which is in Hampshire. Hambeldon is actually where the great game of crickt grew up which is interesting as many people believe it all began at Lords. Infact the Laws of the game were first drawn up in the pub, now known as ‘The Bat and Ball Inn’, back in 1755. The field, Broadhalfpenny Down, is where Little Hambledon played England winning 29 of 51 outings. England Cricket was based here until the mid 1780’s where the game moved to Lords Cricket Ground (The MCC being the governing body of the game), and so began the beautiful history of cricket at what is known as the ‘home of cricket’!
This rich information is courtesy of Luke ‘Sparrow’ Gillian.
It was an incredible emotion I felt as I got closer to the gates and walked past the wall display which had the famous words engraved, ‘Lords Cricket Ground’. The wall is engraved with cricketer’s captured in various batting and bowling poses from a time long gone, immediately embracing you with respect for the tradition of this great game. Once inside the ground we made our way to the MCC museum where our tour would commence. We had some time to walk around the museum before hand. The first level of the museum is packed with cricketing memoribilia a collector would salivate over, although I am pleased with what I’ve accumulated over the years.
Paintings from the 17/1800’s, original cricketing kit that was worn, some history of the evolution of the cricket bat and many other items are neatly placed on display with valuable information. Everything in the museum has that one special word attached to their appearance, ‘tradition’!
Then we moved onto posters, photographs and cricket equipment of some of the more famous cricketers that we know of; The Don, Shane Warne, WG Grace, Victor Trumper etc.
At the time I was there the Brian Lara exhibition was on display and that was just epic for me. In fact, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh and Allan Donald were the first cricket posters I had in my room when I was 6 years old and even as a kid I always wanted to emmulate Lara’s batting technique. So of course seeing all his memoribilia and various records from his illustrious career was really special. There was a netting over head that had cricket balls attached indicating a graph of sorts of that monstrous innings of his where he scored 501* not out. This was during a County Cricket season in the early 90’s whilst representing Warwickshire. I am not certain if the exhibit is still on display as it was reported Brian wanted the majority of his stuff back in his possession!
From there you get drowned in more historical items that makes you lose track very quickly, and that’s frsutrating for me as I like to remember stats, years and figures. But I practically forgot everything anyways when we where lead up some stairs after the Brian Lara exhibition and stood before a small glass like case on a perch.
Inside was an Urn that symbolises the Baggy Green’s greatest battle. It was the original Ashes Urn! Seeing the faded and scuffed writing on it was insane and just knowing how many cricketing duels have taken place amongst the greatest Australian and English cricketers for that Urn was crazy! It was amusing when the tour guide informed us that the Poms had stuffed it up after their 2005 victory due to alcohol getting smudged on the writing.
How true this I don’t know because I was under the impression a replica was used to avoid any damage.
But it stays safe in the museum and that was great to see. Of course there’s Ashes photos all around that section of the museum.
The greatest moment of all for me was standing in the Pavilion, notably in what most of you will know as The Long Room! It really is so. Neat and rather sophisticated it has a really comforting feel to it as you look out through the glass towards the ground, which was lush and green. We were told of rumours where various staff at the grounds have heard the sounds of cricketing studs on the floors heading out towards the ground, the faint arguments and discussions about various players innings, all of whom were long since passed away. It was great to here the more haunting side of the historical room.
Can’t say I’d be too freaked if I were too see a ghostly figure of the Don, W.G Grace or Sir Len Hutton!
After a Q&A session we walked up the stairs and all along the way you just see stud marks and scrapes from the players shoes. You can’t help but wonder who they all belong too knowing of all the greats who have walked up and down those stairs, what they were feeling at the time, what was the urgency in their game that day?
It’s then a decision to go left or right when you get to the top of the stairs. Right will take you to the English changing room, while going left will take you to the visiting teams changing room, where the Aussies would be later the following year…moving on swiftly. How Peter Siddle got lost while trying to find his way out onto the ground, I can actually understand it.
In each change room are the centurion and bowling record boards mounted on the walls.
It’s a brilliant feature and seeing names like Sir Len Hutton, Sir Jack Hobbs, W Hammond and Graeme Gooch which reminded me a time when England were actually really good.
Of course I wanted to see the visitors board.
Surprisingly you realise how many fatastic players have actually not succeeded in getting their centuries at Lords. Notably Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Matthew Hayden or even Brian Lara!
Michael Clarke has been the only addition to the board since I was there after his 136 in the 2nd Test of the 2009 Ashes series.
Once again it’s awesome seeing names like Steve Waugh, Allan Border, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers, George Headley, The Don and Victor Trumper.
The bowling holds some great names too with Glen McGrath (featured on their 3 times, also with a total of 26 wickets at Lords!), Allan Donald, Sir Richard Hadlee, Waqar Younis, Kapil Dev, Andy Roberts, Keith Miller, Courtney Walsh (10 wkt haul)….
But you realise how there is a definite pressure on the players to get on those boards which could be the reason why so many great names in both the historical and modern era’s of the game are not present. Another challenging aspect of this game at the elite level.
I also had a short moment standing on the famous balcony outside the change room. It is not as spacious as you think, in fact I don’t know how more than 3 guys can fit on there! Still, what a place to be at for just a few seconds.
After seeing that we moved through the ground. We stood by the Grandstand, which overlooks the side of the playing field. You can see the famous Father time weather vane which was mounted back in 1926. The ground was deceptively smaller than I expected also. We walked along having looked back towards the Pavilion and walked up a long set of contruction stairs to get into the Media Centre. Now this is what I wanted too see.
At first it looked like a U.F.O or something when they built the Media Centre back in 1999 but inside the ergonomics of the design are fantasitc. There’s about 4 or 5 rows for journalists to plug in their laptops, mobiles etc and type away while having a perfect view of the ground, while all the various Radio and Television booths are on the upper level.
It’s modern, innovative and really is a great feature when you are walking around the ground. A guy I was in regular contact with during the 2009 Ashes, Chris Stocks, was in actual fact working in that Centre so while we had great chats and discussions throughout the test I was very envious too.
After that the tour is as good as done and you can then spend some time in the library/shop to buy books, merchandise or catching up with other people on your tour group.
The only thing I needed to round off my tour was too see a live Test match between Australia and England. Of course preferrably with the Baggy Green coming out victoriously. Next time, next time.
That’s the best way I could describe my experience at Lords and I urge you to make the effort if you end up near the ground because if you respect the game of cricket and are interested in the history of it, this will be the ultimate moment for you!
Article from ‘The Baggy Green, Chirps & Quick Singles’ blog
More...
It is a mysterious and haunting place given the unbelievable history of the ground and the legendary cricketing moments that have been created at the venue that will have people talking of for years to come.
But, when you get within those perimeter’s the experience is surreal and I wish to share this experience with all of you. In 2008 I finally made the trip and at long last I have found time to write about it.
Instead of digging into the history of the ground and all that stuff you can read up on yourself, I would rather share with you the things that really made it worth the 15 year wait for me.
But of course and introduction is needed here from the early days of the game.
The game seems to have officially originated in Hambledon, which is in Hampshire. Hambeldon is actually where the great game of crickt grew up which is interesting as many people believe it all began at Lords. Infact the Laws of the game were first drawn up in the pub, now known as ‘The Bat and Ball Inn’, back in 1755. The field, Broadhalfpenny Down, is where Little Hambledon played England winning 29 of 51 outings. England Cricket was based here until the mid 1780’s where the game moved to Lords Cricket Ground (The MCC being the governing body of the game), and so began the beautiful history of cricket at what is known as the ‘home of cricket’!
This rich information is courtesy of Luke ‘Sparrow’ Gillian.
It was an incredible emotion I felt as I got closer to the gates and walked past the wall display which had the famous words engraved, ‘Lords Cricket Ground’. The wall is engraved with cricketer’s captured in various batting and bowling poses from a time long gone, immediately embracing you with respect for the tradition of this great game. Once inside the ground we made our way to the MCC museum where our tour would commence. We had some time to walk around the museum before hand. The first level of the museum is packed with cricketing memoribilia a collector would salivate over, although I am pleased with what I’ve accumulated over the years.
Paintings from the 17/1800’s, original cricketing kit that was worn, some history of the evolution of the cricket bat and many other items are neatly placed on display with valuable information. Everything in the museum has that one special word attached to their appearance, ‘tradition’!
Then we moved onto posters, photographs and cricket equipment of some of the more famous cricketers that we know of; The Don, Shane Warne, WG Grace, Victor Trumper etc.
At the time I was there the Brian Lara exhibition was on display and that was just epic for me. In fact, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh and Allan Donald were the first cricket posters I had in my room when I was 6 years old and even as a kid I always wanted to emmulate Lara’s batting technique. So of course seeing all his memoribilia and various records from his illustrious career was really special. There was a netting over head that had cricket balls attached indicating a graph of sorts of that monstrous innings of his where he scored 501* not out. This was during a County Cricket season in the early 90’s whilst representing Warwickshire. I am not certain if the exhibit is still on display as it was reported Brian wanted the majority of his stuff back in his possession!
From there you get drowned in more historical items that makes you lose track very quickly, and that’s frsutrating for me as I like to remember stats, years and figures. But I practically forgot everything anyways when we where lead up some stairs after the Brian Lara exhibition and stood before a small glass like case on a perch.
Inside was an Urn that symbolises the Baggy Green’s greatest battle. It was the original Ashes Urn! Seeing the faded and scuffed writing on it was insane and just knowing how many cricketing duels have taken place amongst the greatest Australian and English cricketers for that Urn was crazy! It was amusing when the tour guide informed us that the Poms had stuffed it up after their 2005 victory due to alcohol getting smudged on the writing.
How true this I don’t know because I was under the impression a replica was used to avoid any damage.
But it stays safe in the museum and that was great to see. Of course there’s Ashes photos all around that section of the museum.
The greatest moment of all for me was standing in the Pavilion, notably in what most of you will know as The Long Room! It really is so. Neat and rather sophisticated it has a really comforting feel to it as you look out through the glass towards the ground, which was lush and green. We were told of rumours where various staff at the grounds have heard the sounds of cricketing studs on the floors heading out towards the ground, the faint arguments and discussions about various players innings, all of whom were long since passed away. It was great to here the more haunting side of the historical room.
Can’t say I’d be too freaked if I were too see a ghostly figure of the Don, W.G Grace or Sir Len Hutton!
After a Q&A session we walked up the stairs and all along the way you just see stud marks and scrapes from the players shoes. You can’t help but wonder who they all belong too knowing of all the greats who have walked up and down those stairs, what they were feeling at the time, what was the urgency in their game that day?
It’s then a decision to go left or right when you get to the top of the stairs. Right will take you to the English changing room, while going left will take you to the visiting teams changing room, where the Aussies would be later the following year…moving on swiftly. How Peter Siddle got lost while trying to find his way out onto the ground, I can actually understand it.
In each change room are the centurion and bowling record boards mounted on the walls.
It’s a brilliant feature and seeing names like Sir Len Hutton, Sir Jack Hobbs, W Hammond and Graeme Gooch which reminded me a time when England were actually really good.
Of course I wanted to see the visitors board.
Surprisingly you realise how many fatastic players have actually not succeeded in getting their centuries at Lords. Notably Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Matthew Hayden or even Brian Lara!
Michael Clarke has been the only addition to the board since I was there after his 136 in the 2nd Test of the 2009 Ashes series.
Once again it’s awesome seeing names like Steve Waugh, Allan Border, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers, George Headley, The Don and Victor Trumper.
The bowling holds some great names too with Glen McGrath (featured on their 3 times, also with a total of 26 wickets at Lords!), Allan Donald, Sir Richard Hadlee, Waqar Younis, Kapil Dev, Andy Roberts, Keith Miller, Courtney Walsh (10 wkt haul)….
But you realise how there is a definite pressure on the players to get on those boards which could be the reason why so many great names in both the historical and modern era’s of the game are not present. Another challenging aspect of this game at the elite level.
I also had a short moment standing on the famous balcony outside the change room. It is not as spacious as you think, in fact I don’t know how more than 3 guys can fit on there! Still, what a place to be at for just a few seconds.
After seeing that we moved through the ground. We stood by the Grandstand, which overlooks the side of the playing field. You can see the famous Father time weather vane which was mounted back in 1926. The ground was deceptively smaller than I expected also. We walked along having looked back towards the Pavilion and walked up a long set of contruction stairs to get into the Media Centre. Now this is what I wanted too see.
At first it looked like a U.F.O or something when they built the Media Centre back in 1999 but inside the ergonomics of the design are fantasitc. There’s about 4 or 5 rows for journalists to plug in their laptops, mobiles etc and type away while having a perfect view of the ground, while all the various Radio and Television booths are on the upper level.
It’s modern, innovative and really is a great feature when you are walking around the ground. A guy I was in regular contact with during the 2009 Ashes, Chris Stocks, was in actual fact working in that Centre so while we had great chats and discussions throughout the test I was very envious too.
After that the tour is as good as done and you can then spend some time in the library/shop to buy books, merchandise or catching up with other people on your tour group.
The only thing I needed to round off my tour was too see a live Test match between Australia and England. Of course preferrably with the Baggy Green coming out victoriously. Next time, next time.
That’s the best way I could describe my experience at Lords and I urge you to make the effort if you end up near the ground because if you respect the game of cricket and are interested in the history of it, this will be the ultimate moment for you!
Article from ‘The Baggy Green, Chirps & Quick Singles’ blog
More...
