THE
HISTORY OF LORDS CRICKET GROUND,
London
The first match played at Thomas
Lord’s third ground was in the
Australia tour of July 1884,
their third trip to England with
all previous encounters having
taken place on the opposite side
of London at the Oval. In the
Second Test in 1884 at Lord’s
England won by an innings and 5
runs; a century for A.G. Steel
was the first on the ground in
Tests.
Two years later England won the
series 3-0 and the Second Test
at Lord’s again by an innings;
Shrewsbury set an English Test
record of 164 but was bettered
by W.G. Grace in the next match.
The First Test in 1888 saw
Australia win by 61 runs with
one of the lowest aggregates
(291) for any completed Test.
1893 saw Shrewsbury become the
first batsman to score 1,000
Test runs while England captain
Stoddart was the first to
declare an innings, although the
match ended in a draw.
South Africa’s first Test in
England was at Lord’s in July
1907, ending in a draw. Lord’s
continued its record of losing
play to weather in 1912, with
the Triangular Test Tournament
between England, South Africa
and Australia.
England’s win against South
Africa in 1924 in the Second
Test at Lord’s, by an innings
and 18 runs, was for the loss of
only two wickets (Hobbs for 211
and Sutcliffe for 122). This
feat and England scoring 500
runs in a day were both records.
West Indies’ first official Test
was at Lord’s in 1928 and was
also Douglas Jardine’s first
match.
In 1930 in the Second Ashes
Test, Australia’s 729-6d saw
them win by nine wickets and
post the highest score at
Lord’s, still in the top ten of
all-time. Don Bradman’s 254 was
the top Test score at
Headquarters for 60 years.
New Zealand’s first appearance
in England was scheduled for one
match at Lord’s in 1931 but they
played so well in the draw that
two extra matches were promptly
scheduled.
The Ashes back in England after
“Bodyline”, 1934 saw England
level the series 1-1 at Lord’s
in the Second Test, helped by
Verity’s 15-104: the best
analysis at Lord’s by an
Englishman and still the second
best return there. It was the
hosts’ first win at Lord’s for
almost 40 years.
South Africa’s first win in
England came in the Second Test
at Lord’s in 1935. The match
included the new lbw law that
said batsmen could be out to a
ball pitching outside the line
of the stumps.
India’s first Test in England
was at Lord’s in June 1936,
which they lost by 9 wickets.
The following year against New
Zealand saw Wally Hammond pass
Jack Hobbs’ world record of
5,410 Test runs.
In the Ashes of 1938 Hammond’s
240 at Lord’s was the highest by
an England captain versus
Australia. Bradman’s 102,
meanwhile, saw him pass Hobbs’
record aggregate of 3,636 Ashes
runs.
England’s win in June 1939 in
the First Test at Lord’s versus
the West Indies was enough to
secure the series, the last
before the Second World War.
The next Test at Lord’s, after a
break of 6½ years, was against
India; the Nawab of Pataudi snr
made his debut for India, having
already played three Tests for
England.
In 1947 against South Africa,
Edrich (159) and Compton (208)
put on a record third-wicket
stand (370).
In the 1948 Ashes Second Test at
Lord’s, Australia won by 409
runs and it was the 14th
consecutive Test against England
in which Bradman scored at least
50.
England’s captain Mann created
history in 1949 by declaring on
the first day against New
Zealand, in the era of three-day
matches.
West Indies completed their
first Test win in England in
1950 at Lord’s by 326 runs.
By modern standards, Godfrey
Evans’ 100th dismissal in 1952
against India seems low but was
an English wicketkeeping record.
There was no play until the
fourth afternoon against
Pakistan in 1954, resulting in a
predictable draw. The following
year against South Africa,
Compton became only the fifth
batsman to pass 5,000 runs.
The 1956 Ashes saw the
Australians’ first win in
England for eight years;
Langley’s nine wicketkeeping
dismissals in the match was then
a record.
Another record fell dubiously to
New Zealand in 1958 when they
were all out for 47 and 74, then
the lowest score at Lord’s. The
following year, again versus
India, Evans took the last of
his record 219 dismissals.
The first and only Test
hat-trick at Lord’s came in 1960
from South Africa’s G.M.
Griffin, who was also called 11
times for ‘throwing’, the first
time in England.
In 1961 versus Australia, Brian
Statham passed 200 wickets as
did his strike partner Fred
Trueman the next year against
Pakistan, again at Lord’s.
The closest possible finish
occurred in the Lord’s Test in
1963 against the West Indies; on
the last ball it was possible to
tie or either side win but
England’s last pair defended for
a draw.
Trueman’s last and record 307th
wicket came in the Lord’s Test
versus New Zealand in 1965 while
in 1968 Colin Cowdrey took a
then record 111 outfield
catches.
Bob Massie’s 16-137 in his first
Test helped Australia win by
eight wickets in 1972, a record
for Lord’s and the fourth best
analysis of all-time.
The following year Gary Sobers
scored his last century in a
Test to help the West Indies
post 652-8d (then the second
highest innings at Lord’s) and
win by 226 runs.
Such a large margin of victory
was meted out to India in 1974
when England won by an innings
and 285 runs with the tourists
all out for 42, the lowest
innings at Lord’s.
The 1975 Ashes Lord’s Test
witnessed the first streaker in
England on the fourth day.
In 1978 England beat Pakistan,
with Ian Botham’s 8-34 the best
return at Lord’s. He took his
100th Test wicket in the Lord’s
Test of 1979 in record time (2
years 9 days).
To commemorate Test cricket in
England the centenary Test of
August 1980 ended in a draw.
With Ian Botham again captain in
the 1981 draw, he scored a pair
and was replaced by Mike
Brearley.
1982 versus Pakistan saw the
first day of play on a Sunday at
Lord’s and the visitors’ second
win in England.
Sri Lanka’s first Test in
England was a draw; Wettimuny’s
record 624 minutes was the
longest innings at Lord’s.
The invincible West Indies won
the 1984 series 5-0 but England
made a good start at Lord’s with
a first innings lead thanks to
8-103 from Botham. England
declared with the visitors
needing 342 on the last day,
which they achieved with the
loss of only one wicket.
England lost the 1986 series
2-0, starting with a five-wicket
loss to India at Lord’s.
Vengsarkar scored his third
Lord’s century, a record for an
overseas player.
The MCC faced the Rest of the
World in 1987 at Lord’s; Gooch,
Gatting and Greenidge all scored
hundreds but the match award
went to Gavaskar (188).
In 1990 England beat India by
247 runs. Gooch’s 333 was the
highest at Lord’s and the sixth
in history. His partnership of
308 with Alan Lamb was the
highest against India and 653-4d
was then the second highest and
England’s top score at Lord’s.
South Africa returned to Test
cricket in England at Lord’s and
won by 356 runs.
A draw in the Ashes Lord’s Test
left England 1-0 ahead in 1997,
despite McGrath’s 8-38, although
the Australians went on to
regain the urn convincingly.
The new millennium heralded
Zimbabwe’s first Test in England
where they lost by an innings at
Lord’s. Also in 2000 England
defeated West Indies by two
wickets, dismissing the tourists
for 54 in the second innings.
South Africa’s victory by an
innings and 92 runs in 2003 was
helped by Graeme Smith’s 259,
the second highest knock at
Lord’s and the highest for an
overseas player, overtaking
Bradman. Their 682-6d was the
second highest innings at Lord’s
and the South Africans’ highest
ever.
Bangladesh’s first Test in
England was in 2005 where they
lost by an innings and 261 runs
at Lord’s.
Australia won the first Lord’s
Test by 239 runs in 2006 but
England went on to regain the
Ashes in a thrilling series.
Both Lord’s Tests in 2007, in
series against the West Indies
and India, ended in draws, Kevin
Pietersen scoring centuries in
both matches.
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