Many sports have iconic stadiums that are recognisable around the world and even to those who don’t follow the sport. Football has Wembley, baseball has the Yankee Stadium and cricket has Lord’s.
Both Wembley and the Yankee Stadium have undergone wholesale changes in recent years – Wembley was completely rebuilt while a new Yankee Stadium was built across the road from the original – as they look to modernise. Both, however, retain their iconic status.
Lord’s, on the other hand, has not made any dramatic changes recently. Its current location is the third for the stadium. In 1787 the first Lord’s – now referred to as Lord’s Old Ground – was where Dorset Square now stands and the second – Lord’s Middle Ground – was used only between 1811 and 1813 because of the start of the construction of the Regent’s Canal.
Lord’s Cricket Ground is often referred to as the home of cricket and its first Test match was staged in 1884 when England played the visiting Australian side. Some of the current buildings date back from this era – the main one being the Pavilion which houses the changing rooms, the Long Room and seats for members to watch the cricket. One of the most well known features of the Pavilion are the honours boards in the dressing rooms that record every century scored, every five wicket innings haul and every bowler to take ten wickets in a Test match at the ground.
This building dates back to 1889 but has undergone renovations, most recently in 2005 when £8million was spent refurbishing it. This building work came just six years after the completion of the Media Centre – a £5.8million development that overlooks the ground, directly opposite the Pavilion. The media centre is the world’s first all aluminium, semi-monocoque building in the world and was awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture in 1999, when it was opened in time for the World Cup.
As well as the Media Centre – there are several other iconic features to Lord’s. The Old Father Time weather vane stands atop the south-east stand, having moved from the north-west in 1996 because of the development of the new grandstand. It has been part of Lord’s since 1926 when it was donated by Sir Herbert Baker. Three years prior to that Sir Baker designed a set of gates for the ground that were named the WG Grace Memorial Gates – often shortened to the Grace Gates – in honour of the former England cricketer. The ground is also home to the oldest sporting museum in the world.
One of the famous features of Lord’s that affects the players directly is the slope of the field – the north-west side is a full eight feet higher than the south-east, which has a huge effect on the wicket and the movement of the ball. Rather than being seen as an imperfection, this adds to the charm of the ground and is something that will show itself during the npower Ashes test at Lord’s starting on 16 July.