Lord's

Lord's Cricket Ground, better known as Lord's, is a cricket venue at St John's Wood, historically in Middlesex and now in the City of Westminster, London NW8. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and serves as the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), ICC Europe and, until August 2005, the International Cricket Council (ICC). Lord's houses the world's oldest sporting museum.

Lord's today is not on its original 18th-century site; it is the third of three grounds which Thomas Lord established between 1787 and 1814. His first ground, now referred to as Lord's Old Ground, was where Dorset Square now stands. Lord's Middle Ground was in use from 1811 to 1813, before being abandoned for the construction of Regent's Canal which carved its way through the outfield. Lord's present ground is about north-west of the previous Middle Ground site. The ground can hold 31,100 spectators, its capacity increasing between 2017 and 2022 as part of MCC's ongoing redevelopment plans.

History

Background

Thomas Lord, acting on behalf of the Islington-based White Conduit Club, opened his first ground in May 1787. The site in Marylebone was leased from the Portman estate, and was where Dorset Square now stands. Lord was a ground staff bowler at White Conduit, but he was reckoned to have business acumen, and so he was chosen for the task of finding a new, and private, venue for the club. He was backed against any losses by the Earl of Winchilsea and Colonel Charles Lennox. The White Conduit moved to the new ground soon afterwards, and reconstituted themselves as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

In 1811, feeling obliged to relocate because of a rise in rent, Lord removed his turf and relaid it at his second ground. Now known as the "Middle Ground", it was on the Eyre Estate in St John's Wood, west of Regent's Park. This venture was short-lived because it lay on the route which Parliament determined for the Regent's Canal. The Eyre family offered Lord another plot nearby; and he again relocated his turf.

The new ground, also in St John's Wood, had both a duck pond and a pronounced slope which runs diagonally across the field from north to south. In terms of the modern ground, this is from the Grand Stand (north side) down to the Tavern and Mound Stands in the south. The drop is around . Bowlers operating from the Pavilion End are bowling downhill; and uphill from the Nursery End.

Early years

thumb|Progression of Lord's ground's locations

Lord's Tavern was built in 1813–14, followed by a wooden pavilion in 1814. The new ground opened in the 1814 season, with MCC playing Hertfordshire in what is believed to have been the first match there on 22 June 1814.

The first century to be scored at the ground was made by Frederick Woodbridge (107) for Epsom against Middlesex in August 1815, with Epsom's Felix Ladbroke (116) recording the second century in the same match. The annual Eton v Harrow match, which had first been played at Lord's Old Ground in 1805, returned to the present ground on 29/30 July 1818. From 1822, the fixture became almost an annual event at Lord's. Lord's witnessed cricket's first double-century when William Ward scored 278 for the MCC against Norfolk in 1820. Ward's effort was a world record score which beat the 167 scored by James Aylward in 1777, and remained unbroken for 56 years until W. G. Grace's innings of 344 in 1876.

The original Lord's Pavilion, which had recently been renovated at great expense, was destroyed by fire on the night of 28 July 1825, following the first Winchester v Harrow match which had been completed that day. MCC's records and archives, including countless unique documents, were lost. The Pavilion was promptly rebuilt by Lord.

Also in 1825, the future of the ground as a whole was placed in jeopardy when Lord proposed redeveloping it with housing. This was at a time when St John's Wood was seeing rapid development. It was prevented by William Ward, who purchased the ground from Lord for £5,000. His purchase was celebrated in the following anonymous poem:

The first University Match between Oxford and Cambridge was held at Lord's in 1827, at the instigation of Charles Wordsworth, establishing what would be the oldest first-class fixture in the world until 2020. The ground remained under the ownership of Ward until 1835, after which it was handed over to James Dark. The Pavilion was refurbished in 1838, with the addition of gas lighting. Around this time Lord's could still be considered a country ground, with open countryside to the north and west. Lord's was described by Lord Cottesloe in 1845 as being a primitive venue, with low benches put in a circle around the ground at a good distance providing seating for spectators. Improvements to the ground were gradually made, with the introduction of a telegraph scoreboard in 1846. The Pavilion was extended on its north side in 1848 with an annex providing a separate entrance to the cricket field for professional players. In the same year scorecards were introduced for the first time, from a portable press, and drainage was installed in 1849–50.

An Australian Aboriginal cricket team toured England in 1868, with Lord's hosting one of their matches to a mixed response, with The Times describing the tourists as "a travestie upon cricketing at Lord's" and "the conquered natives of a convict colony". Dark proposed to part with his interest in the ground in 1863, for the fee of £15,000 for the remaining years of his lease. An agreement was reached in 1864, with Dark, who was seriously ill, selling his interests at Lord's for £11,000. The landlord of the ground, Isaac Moses, offered to sell it outright for £21,000 in 1865, which was reduced to £18,150. William Nicholson, who was a member of the MCC Committee at the time advanced the money on a mortgage, with his proposal for the MCC to buy the ground being unanimously passed at a special general meeting on 2 May 1866. Following this purchase, a number of developments took place. These included the addition of cricket nets for members to practice and the construction of a grandstand designed by the architect Arthur Allom, which was built in the winter of 1867–68 and also provided accommodation for the press. The stand was funded by a private syndicate of MCC members, purchased by the club in 1869. The wicket at Lord's was heavily criticised in the 1860s due to its poor condition, with Frederick Gale suggesting that nine cricket grounds out of ten within 20 miles of London would have a better wicket; the condition was deemed so poor as to be dangerous that Sussex refused to play there in 1864.

Continued developments

By the 1860s and 1870s, the great social occasions of the season were the public school match between Eton and Harrow, the Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge, and the Gentlemen v Players, with all three matches attracting great crowds. Crowds became so large that they encroached on the playing area, which necessitated the introduction of the boundary system in 1866. Further crowd control measures were initiated in 1871, with the introduction of turnstiles. The Pavilion was expanded in the mid-1860s and shortly thereafter it was decided to replace the original tavern with a new construction commencing in December 1867. At this time a nascent county game was beginning to take shape. With Lord's hosting more county matches, the pitches subsequently improved with umpires overseeing their preparation.

Middlesex County Cricket Club, which had been founded in 1864, began playing their home games at Lord's in 1877 after vacating Prince's ground in Chelsea, which had been considered a serious rival to Lord's given its noble backers. In 1873–74, an embankment was built which could accommodate 4,000 spectators in four rows of seats. Four years later a new lodge and was constructed to replace an older lodge, along with a new workshop, stables and a store room at a cost of £1,000. To meet the ever-increasing demand of accommodating more spectators, a temporary stand was constructed on the eastern side of the ground. After many years of complaints regarding the poor condition of the Lord's pitch, the MCC took action by installing Percy Pearce as Ground Superintendent in 1874. Pearce had previously held the same position at the County Ground, Hove. His appointment vastly improved the condition of the wicket, with The Standard describing them as "faultless".

thumb|left|Lord's Pavilion, designed by the architect [[Thomas Verity and built in 1889–90]]

The Australian cricket team captained by Dave Gregory first visited Lord's on 27 May 1878, defeating their MCC hosts by 9 wickets. This was considered a shock result and established not only the fame of the Australian team, but also the ongoing rivalry between England and Australia. Lord's hosted its first Test match during The 1884 Ashes, becoming the third venue in England to host Test cricket after The Oval and Old Trafford. The match was won by England by an innings and 5 runs, with England's A. G. Steel and Edmund Peate recording the first Test century and five-wicket haul at Lord's respectively.

As part of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations for Queen Victoria in 1887, the Kings of Belgium, Denmark, Saxony, and Portugal attended Lord's. It was noted that none of them had any grasp of cricket. In the same year Lord's hosted the MCC's hundredth anniversary celebrations, with MCC playing a celebratory match against England. With only a two-tiered covered grandstand and both increasing membership and spectator numbers, it was decided to build a new pavilion at a cost of £21,000. Soon after this, the MCC purchased the land to the east, known today as the Nursery Ground; this had previously been a market garden known as Henderson's Nursery which grew pineapples and tulips.

thumb|right|Cricket being played at Lord's in 1899

It was rumoured that subsequent tunnelling under Wellington Road provided the banking for the Mound Stand, which was constructed in 1898–99 on an area previously occupied by tennis and rackets courts. The rapid development of Lord's was not well met by some, with critics mooting Thomas Lord would "turn in his grave" at the ground's expansion. 1899 saw Albert Trott hit a six over the Pavilion while playing for MCC against the touring Australians, remaining as of the only batsman to do so. The Imperial Cricket Conference was founded by England, Australia and South Africa in 1909, headquartered at Lord's.

Lord's hosted three of the nine Test matches for the ill-fated 1912 Triangular Tournament which was organised by the South African millionaire Sir Abe Bailey. The ground's centenary was commemorated in June 1914 with a match between MCC, whose team was selected from the touring party from England's recent tour of South Africa, and a Rest of England team. The Rest of England won the three-day match by an innings and 189 runs. Lord's was requisitioned by the Army during the First World War, accommodating the Territorial Army (TA), Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and Royal Army Service Corps (RASC). Both cooking and wireless instruction classes were held at the ground for military personnel. Once the RAMC departed, the War Office used the Nursery Ground and other buildings as a training centre for Royal Artillery cadets. The Pavilion and its Long Room were used throughout the war for the manufacture of hay nets for horses on the Western Front. Though requisitioned, Lord's held several charity cricket matches during the war, featuring military teams from the various dominions of the British Empire. These matches were well attended and one such match in 1918 between England and the Dominions was attended by George V and the Duke of Connaught.

Inter-war years and WWII

thumb|[[Father Time (Lord's)|Father Time (pictured) incurred damage from an RAAF Barrage Balloon during World War Two.]]

First-class cricket returned to Lord's in 1919, with a series of two-day matches in the County Championship. 1923 saw the installation of the Grace Gates, a tribute to W. G. Grace who had died in 1915. They were inaugurated by Sir Stanley Jackson, who proposed including the words <small>THE GREAT CRICKETER</small> in the dedication. These gates replaced the ground's earlier, less decorative, entrance. With attendances growing in number, it was suggested that Lord's should aim to accommodate crowds of up to 40,000 for Test matches; however, its stands were considered inadequate with the Grandstand described as "hopelessly out of date". To accommodate these crowds, the Old Grandstand was demolished and a new one was built in its place in 1926, designed by the architect Sir Herbert Baker. Completion of the stand was delayed due to the 1926 General Strike.

In contrast to the First World War, Lord's was only partially requisitioned by the military during the Second World War. Lord's hosted matches throughout the war for the London Counties cricket team, amongst others, which attracted large crowds. The ground was spared major damage from the Blitz. An oil bomb landed on the Nursery Ground in 1940, with a high-explosive bomb also narrowly missing the Nursery End Stands in December of the same year. The Grandstand and the Pavilion were hit by incendiary bombs, damaging their roofs. AFS firefighters stationed at Lord's reacted quickly and limited the damage. As the war progressed, the threat came not from the Luftwaffe but the newly developed V-1 flying bomb. Lord's had several near misses from these missiles in 1944, with one bomb landing short of the ground near to Regent's Park. The Nursery Ground had been requisitioned by the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and converted into a barrage balloon site. The most high-profile war damage was that to Father Time, when one such balloon broke loose and drifted toward the Grandstand, catching Father Time and depositing it into the seating at the front of the stand. International cricket resumed at the end of the war, with Lord's hosting one of the Victory Tests (although not accorded Test status) between the Australian Services cricket team and England. This demand necessitated further expansion of the ground, with the construction of the Warner Stand in 1958, which included snack bars and a press box.

The record numbers of spectators who attended Test and County Championship matches began to decline by the end of the 1950s and cricket in England found itself from a position of 2.2 million paid County Championship spectators in 1947, dropping to 719,661 by 1963. To arrest this decline, List A one-day cricket was introduced in 1963, with Lord's hosting its first List A match in the 1963 Gillette Cup between Middlesex and Northamptonshire and later hosted the final of the competition between Sussex and Worcestershire in front of a sell-out 24,000 crowd. It was the first such final held anywhere in the world. Lord's Tavern and its adjoining buildings were demolished in 1968 to make way for the construction of the Tavern Stand, again designed by Peacock. with Australia defeating England by 5 wickets. Three years later Lord's hosted the final of the inaugural men's World Cup, with the West Indies triumphing over Australia. Four years later, Lord's held the final of the 1979 World Cup, with the West Indies once against triumphing, this time against England.

The first women's cricket match at Lord's took place in August 1976 when England and Australia played a 60-over ODI which England won by eight wickets. The opportunity to play a women's match at Lord's resulted from lobbying by Rachael Heyhoe Flint, and was given extra impetus by England's victory in the 1973 Women's Cricket World Cup. England's Women XI had to wait another 11 years to play their second match at Lord's. The ground hosted the final of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in 1993 with England beating New Zealand to win the World Cup. The ground was not fully opened for the game with only 5,000 spectators attending.

thumb|right|Lord's Grand Stand (pictured), 1998

A new indoor cricket school was completed in 1973 at the Nursery End, launched with £75,000 from Sir Jack Hayward and additional funds raised by the Lord's Taverners and the Sports Council. The West Indies appeared in their third successive World Cup final in 1983, but were defeated by 43 runs by India. The Mound Stand's roof was removed in 1985 to make way for a new upper tier designed by Michael Hopkins & Partners, which opened in time for the MCC's bicentenary in 1987. That bicentenary was celebrated with a five-day match between MCC and a Rest of the World XI in August 1987, which ended in a draw after the final day was rained off.

Graham Gooch made the first Test triple-century at Lord's, scoring 333 against India in 1990. The final decade of the 20th–century saw rapid redevelopment of Lord's. The Compton and Edrich Stands were completed in 1991, having run over time and budget. With Lord's hosting three matches in the 1999 World Cup, including the final, the MCC set about improving press facilities by constructing the Media Centre at the Nursery End between the Compton and Edrich Stands, offering commanding views towards the Pavilion from behind the bowler's arm. Lord's Media Centre was opened in April 1999 by then MCC president Tony Lewis.

21st-century developments

thumb|250px|right|Lord's has hosted the final of [[The Hundred (cricket)|The Hundred since 2021.]]

Lord's hosted its one-hundredth Test match in June 2000, with England defeating the West Indies by two wickets; the match was also notable for the 21 wickets which fell on the second day, the most to fall in a day at a Lord's Test since 1888. The ground also hosted the University Match over three days for the last time in 2000, after which the match alternated between Fenner's at Cambridge and University Parks at Oxford. This fixture continues at Lord's since 2001 as a one-day limited overs match. At the start of the 21st-century, the Lord's slope which offers advantage to both seam and swing bowlers from the Pavilion and Nursery Ends respectively, was under threat of being levelled due to the advent of drop-in pitches. However, the MCC resisted these calls as levelling the pitch would require the rebuilding of Lord's and would mean Test cricket would not be able to be played there for five years. The outfield was notorious for becoming waterlogged due to its clay soil, resulting in considerable lost match time. The entire outfield was relaid in the winter of 2002 with the clay soil being replaced with sand, which has improved drainage. Lord's hosted its first T20 match in the second edition of the Twenty20 Cup in 2004. In 2005 the International Cricket Council (formerly the Imperial Cricket Conference) headquarters, which had been located at Lord's since its foundation in 1909, were closed and moved to the Dubai Sports City in the United Arab Emirates.

thumb|left|Lord's floodlit [[Twenty20 match between Middlesex and Kent in 2009]]

Temporary floodlights were installed at the ground in 2007, but were removed in 2008 after complaints of light pollution from local residents. In January 2009, Westminster City Council approved the use of new 48-metre high retractable floodlights designed to minimise light spillage into nearby residences. Council approval stipulated a five-year trial period during which up to 12 matches and 4 practice matches could be played under lights between April and September, with the lights being dimmed to half-strength at 9.50 pm and switched off by 11 pm. The floodlights were first used successfully on 27 May 2009 during the Twenty20 Cup match between Middlesex and Kent. Two weeks after the first use of the floodlights, Lord's hosted its first Twenty20 International in the World Twenty20 between England and the Netherlands, which resulted in a shock last-ball win for the ICC associate nation. Lord's held the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 Final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which Pakistan won by 8 wickets.

In 2008 plans were drawn up by the MCC Committee to fund the future £250 million development of the ground by constructing residential apartments and a luxury hotel along the Wellington Road and Grove End Road.

Lord's Masterplan was unveiled in 2013, being a twenty-year plan to redevelop the ground and improve its facilities. The first phase of its Masterplan involved the demolition and replacement of the Warner Stand with a new stand, which was built between 2015 and 2017. The new stand has improved facilities for match officials and reduced the number of restricted-view spectator seats from 600 to 100. Phase two of Lord's Masterplan involved the demolition of the Compton and Edrich Stands in 2019, with their replacements being completed in 2021; these provided an extra 2,000 seats and for the first time were linked by a walkway bridge.

Two matches of note were played at Lord's Cricket Ground in July 2019. The first of these was 2019 World Cup Final between England and New Zealand, which ended as a tie with both sides each making 241 runs after 50 overs. The final was then decided by a Super Over, which also resulted in a tie. Thus, the winner was decided on the number of boundaries scored in the game and Super Over; this was England's first World Cup triumph. A second match of note followed four days later when Ireland played their first Test match at Lord's, where they bowled England out for 85 on the first morning of the match with Tim Murtagh taking 5 for 13. Despite this, in their second innings Ireland were dismissed for 38, the lowest Test total at Lord's and lost the match by 143 runs.

In August 2022 the ground's East Gate was renamed the Heyhoe Flint Gate in honour of Baroness Heyhoe Flint.

In February 2026, it was reported that Lord's would undergo an overhaul of the Nursery End which would see the brick "prison" wall removed and a glass-fronted pavilion developed, along with two 12-storey apartment blocks to fund the redevelopment of the Tavern Stand. Potentially, a new Lord's museum, a roof over the currently open-air Compton and Edrich Stands, and transformation of the Thomas Lord building into a café and shop were also ideas considered in the plan.

Ground features and facilities

Stands

As of , the stands at Lord's are (anti-clockwise from the Pavilion):

File:Lords Labels 2021.svg|Lord's ground map

File:Lords match in progress.jpg|Allen Stand (right)

File:Lords Cricket Ground, London (Ank Kumar) 01.jpg|Tavern Stand

File:Lords south stands.jpg|Mound Stand (left)

File:Lords Edrich Stand Oct 2021.jpg|Edrich Stand

File:Lords Compton Stand Oct 2021.jpg|Compton Stand

File:Lord's Cricket Ground Grand Stand.jpg|Grand Stand

File:Lords 6.jpg|Warner Stand

</gallery>

Many of the stands were rebuilt in the late 20th century. In 1987 the new Mound Stand, designed by Michael Hopkins & Partners, was opened, followed by the Grand Stand, designed by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, in 1996. The Media Centre, opposite the Pavilion between the Compton and Edrich Stands, was added in 1999. Designed by Future Systems, it won the Royal Institute of British Architects' Stirling Prize for 1999. The redevelopment of the Compton and Edrich Stands was completed in 2021, adding 2,600 seats and bringing the ground capacity to 31,100 spectators. The two ends of Lord's pitch are the Pavilion End (south-west), for MCC members, and the Nursery End (north-east), dominated by the Media Centre. The Pavilion was constructed using brick with ornate terracotta facing, which includes terracotta gargoyles, such as "The Patriarch" which is understood to represent Lord Harris. The building consists of a long, two-storey centre section with covered seating between two end-towers which are capped with pyramidal roofs which have ornate wrought and cast iron lanterns. It underwent an £8 million refurbishment programme in 2004–05. The Pavilion provides inside and outdoor seating for MCC members to watch cricket including in the Long Room, the Bowlers' Bar as well as many other vantage points. Middlesex County Cricket Club and visiting counties' members can enjoy use by reciprocity of Lord's Pavilion on match days. The Pavilion also comprises the players' dressing rooms with respective viewing balconies.

The Long Room on the ground floor has been described by Wisden's Lawrence Booth as "the most evocative four walls in world cricket". Players proceed through the Long Room on their way from the dressing room to the cricket pitch; this walk can be notoriously long and complex at Lord's. On his Test debut in 1975, David Steele got lost when going out to bat "and ended up in the Pavilion's basement toilets". Upon entering via the Long Room's rear door players take approximately 30 paces before reaching the steps leading onto the playing field. The Long Room is adorned with paintings of famous cricket scenes and distinguished cricket administrators and players from the 18th century to the present day, featuring many English cricketers as well as those from overseas by rotation. For an overseas cricketer to have their portrait hang in the Long Room is considered a great honour, among whom are four Australians: Sir Donald Bradman, Keith Miller, Victor Trumper and Shane Warne.

thumb|left|[[Lord's honours boards, historically celebrating English cricketers, were replaced in 2019.]]

Displayed in the dressing rooms are the Lord's honours boards, commemorating centuries, five-wicket and ten-wicket hauls for cricket internationals. Two honours boards for batting and bowling commemorate England players in the home dressing room, while the batting and bowling honours boards commemorating overseas international players can be seen in the away dressing room. Originally only these achievements in Test matches were commemorated, but in 2019 Lord's introduced an honours board for ODIs. As of 167 players have made 240 Test centuries at Lord's and 130 players have taken 186 five-wicket hauls. In ODI's 29 players have made 32 centuries at Lord's and 14 players have taken a five-wicket haul. A separate "neutral" honours board was created in 2010 to coincide with Lord's hosting a Test match between Australia and Pakistan. Australians Warren Bardsley and Charlie Kelleway were the first two names added to this board, commemorating their centuries against South Africa in 1912. They were joined by the Australians Shane Watson and Marcus North, who both took five-wicket hauls against Pakistan.

The dress code in the Pavilion remains notoriously strict. Men are required to wear "ties and tailored coats and acceptable trousers with appropriate shoes" and women are required to wear "dresses; or skirts or trousers worn with blouses, and appropriate shoes". Until 1999 ladies – with the exception of Club Patron Queen Elizabeth II – were not permitted to enter the Pavilion during play, due to MCC's longstanding gender-based membership policy. MCC's 1998 decision to admit female members represented a historic modernisation for Lord's Pavilion and similar clubs.

Media Centre

thumb|left|Lord's futuristic Media Centre (pictured)

The decision to build the Media Centre was made during a meeting of the MCC Committee in 1995. These plans sought to remove the previously inadequate media arrangements mostly concentrated in the Warner Stand which could accommodate 90 journalists, along with wooden shacks dotted around the ground for commentators, and replace them with a new purpose-built facility. It was then approved by members of the MCC at a special general meeting in December 1996. These pieces were then delivered to Lord's where they were lowered into place during the 1998 season. The building won eight architectural awards, including the RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture in 1999. The Media Centre was originally sponsored by NatWest, with sponsorship being taken over by Investec in 2007. From 2011, J. P. Morgan was sponsor, and since 2025, Barclays sponsors Lord's Media Centre.

Nursery Ground

thumb|right|Lord's Nursery Ground (pictured)

Purchased in two parts by the MCC in 1838 and 1887, the ground is primarily used as a practice ground and is considered to have some of the best grass nets in the world. In 1895 the Middlesex Volunteers requested the use of the Nursery Ground as a drill ground, but this was declined by the MCC. The Nursery Pavilion, which was constructed in 1999, overlooks the playing area of the Nursery Ground and is one of London's largest venues. The ground has hosted one first-class cricket match in 1903, when the MCC played Yorkshire; the match was originally to be played on Lord's main ground, but heavy rain had fallen and in the week leading up to the match this had led to the abandonment of a match between the MCC and Nottinghamshire. The heavy rain persisted during the MCC v Yorkshire match, with the players spending the first two days of the three-day match sitting in the pavilion. However, it was deemed that the playing surface on the Nursery Ground was suitable for the third day of the match to be played there, with both sides each batting for an innings and Yorkshire's Wilfred Rhodes making an unbeaten 98.

The Women's University Match was played on the Nursery Ground from 2001, however following calls for gender equality, the 20-over fixture is played on the main Lord's ground since 2022 alongside the men's fixture. On big match days crowds are allowed onto the outfield. The Cross Arrows Cricket Club play their home matches at the Nursery Ground towards the end of each cricket season.

MCC Museum and Library

thumb|left|[[The Ashes urn on display at the Lord's Museum]]

Lord'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 urn. MCC has been collecting memorabilia since 1864, its collection being originated by Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, who subsequently became the Club Treasurer. These items were originally displayed in the Pavilion, limiting access to the collection to MCC members. Following the Second World War the collection had outgrown its home in the Pavilion, with a decision made to relocate the collection and open it to the public. The MCC moved the collection to a disused rackets court, which had fallen into disrepair during the war, with this location also acting as a memorial to the fallen members of the MCC from the two World Wars. MCC appointed Diana Rait Kerr, "to whom the game owes a great debt", as the first full-time founding curator of its museum and library, a position she held from 1945 to 1968.

Gardens

thumb|right|Memorial tablet (pictured) to [[George Harris, 4th Baron Harris|Lord Harris in the Harris Garden]]

Lord's has two gardens, the Harris Garden and the Coronation Garden. The Coronation Garden was created behind the A Stand (Warner Stand) in 1952 to celebrate the coronation of Elizabeth II. It contains weeping ash and other trees, providing a shaded area under which benches are found. Preserved in the Coronation Garden is one of the first models of mass-produced, cast iron, heavy rollers dating from the 1880s, which was in use at Lord's until 1945. A large bronze statue of W. G. Grace stands in the Coronation Garden. The garden is popular with picnickers during major matchdays. The Harris Garden, formerly tennis courts, was created as a rose garden in 1934 in memory of Lord Harris. The garden was restored and re-launched in 2018. The restoration included the exposing of the flint wall which runs along the back of the garden, and displays a memorial to Lord Harris. The flower beds in the Harris Garden were replanted in 2018 with a floral design featuring flowers from all the Test-playing nations. The Harris Garden is available for private hire and can host up to 300 people.

The original intention for the purchase of the northern part of the Nursery Ground in 1838 was for it to serve as an archery venue. Archery is recorded as having been played at Lord's as far back as August 1844, when visiting Ioway Indians camped at Lord's and demonstrated their archery skills. Lord's was one of London's venues for the 2012 Summer Olympics, hosting the archery competition. The 2012 Olympics Archery competition took place in front of the Pavilion, where the archers were positioned, with the targets placed 70 metres away just past the square and before Lord's Media Centre. Either side of the square temporary stands holding up to 5,000 spectators were erected.

Lacrosse was first played at Lord's in 1833 by Canadian pioneers of the sport. Lacrosse returned to Lord's in 1876, when a team of Canadian Gentlemen Amateurs led by William George Beers played an exhibition match at the ground against the Iroquois Indians. A Canadian lacrosse team toured Great Britain again in 1883, with one exhibition match being staged at Lord's in front of several thousand spectators. It was then played again at Lord's in October 1953 when the Kenton and Old Thorntonians Lacrosse Clubs met in a lacrosse championship match, with further fixtures following in November of the same year.

thumb|Lord's [[archery at the 2012 Summer Olympics]]

Baseball was first played at Lord's in 1874 when the MCC hosted a touring party of 22 baseball players from the Boston Red Stockings and Philadelphia Athletics, being the two leading American baseball teams of the time. The Red Stockings defeated the Athletics 24–7 in front of a crowd of 5,000 spectators. A baseball game was held at Lord's during the First World War to raise money for the Canadian Widows' and Orphans' Fund. A Canadian baseball team then played a team of American London residents in a match attracting 10,000 spectators.

Lord's hosted London's 1967 pre-1968 Olympics field hockey tournament. One match saw India play Pakistan, broadcast live on the BBC which at the time was unprecedented for field hockey. Pakistan won the match 1–0, while Pakistan also went on to defeat Belgium later in the warm-up tournament, before becoming Olympic Champions the following year. Lord's hosted further international hockey matches during the 1970s. England beat World Champions India for the first time ever at this venue, in 1978.

Other sports played at Lord's include lawn bowls and billiards. In 1838, a bowling green was constructed at the western end of the ground, and then a billiard room with two tables was added to the old Tavern, where professional billiards players competed on Mondays during the cricket season; In the late 1840s and early 1850s, Lord's held Galloway pony races after the cricket season was over, with races starting at the Tavern and finishing twenty yards south of the Pavilion.

International records

Test

Highest team total: 729/6 declared by Australia v England, 1930
Lowest team total: 38 all out by Ireland v England, 2019
Highest individual innings: 333 by Graham Gooch for England v India, 1990
Best bowling in an innings: 8/34 by Ian Botham for England v Pakistan, 1978
Best bowling in a match: 16/137 by Bob Massie for Australia v England, 1972

One-Day International

Highest team total: 334/4 (60 overs) by England v India, 1975
Lowest team total: 107 all out (32.1 overs) by South Africa v England, 2003
Highest individual innings: 138* by Viv Richards for West Indies v England, 1979
Best bowling in an innings: 6/24 by Reece Topley for England v India, 2022

Twenty20 International

Highest team total: 199/4 (20 overs) by West Indies v ICC World XI, 2018
Lowest team total: 93 all out (17.3 overs) by the Netherlands v Pakistan, 2009
Highest individual innings: 78 by Mahela Jayawardene for Sri Lanka v Ireland, 2009
Best bowling in an innings: 4/11 by Shahid Afridi for Pakistan v the Netherlands, 2009

All records correct as of .

Domestic records

First-class

Highest team total: 655 by Middlesex v Glamorgan, 2024
Lowest team total: 15 by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) v Surrey, 1839
Highest individual innings: 335* by Sam Northeast for Glamorgan v Middlesex, 2024
Three bowlers have taken a ten-wicket haul in an innings where the exact bowling figures are not recorded; however it is known they conceded less than 20 runs: they are Edmund Hinkly, William Lillywhite and John Wisden; the best bowling figures in an innings where the records are complete are by Samuel Butler with 10/38 for Oxford University v Cambridge University in 1871.
William Lillywhite took the most wickets in a match with 18, for the Gentlemen in the Gentlemen v Players fixture of 1837, though his exact bowling figures are not recorded.

List A

Highest team total: 368/2 (50 overs) by Nottinghamshire v Middlesex, 2014
Lowest team total: 57 (27.2 overs) by Essex v Lancashire, 1996
Highest individual innings: 187* by Alex Hales for Nottinghamshire v Surrey, 2017
Best bowling in an innings: 7/22 by Jeff Thomson for Middlesex v Hampshire, 1981

Twenty20

Highest team total: 237/6 (20 overs) by Essex v Middlesex, 2023
Lowest team total: 78 (16.3 overs) by Middlesex v Somerset, 2024
Highest individual innings: 121* by Max Holden for Middlesex v Kent, 2023
Best bowling in an innings: 6/24 by Tim Murtagh for Surrey v Middlesex, 2005