Memories of Lords – My love of the worlds most famous cricket ground
My memories of Lord’s cricket ground, perhaps the world’s greatest sports venue, in more ways than one.
Where: Lords Cricket Ground, St. Johns Wood, London NW8
My memories of Lord’s go way back, and quite unlike any other place, sports and events have continually added to the rich tapestry of feelings that I have about the Home of Cricket. When I walk through the Grace gates the smell, the atmosphere, the presence and the feeling of sporting ghosts and heady days hits me immediately. It actually makes me quite emotional.
My earliest memories of Lord’s Cricket Ground
I think my earliest memory was being taken to Lord’s by my Grandfather to watch and England Vs West Indies test match. I was most looking forward to seeing Patrick Patterson bowl, with his famous steel toecap and fearsome pace. I was a wannabe fast bowler at that point, which would have been about 10 years old or so, and the great bowlers of the 80s and 90s were my heroes.
Patrick Patterson - scary to face, awesome to watch
The overriding memory of that day, however, was not the quality of the bowling, but the lack of any action at all. The British Summer had its way and Lords was a washout aside from a few overs here and there. I think we went home after lunch when the covers came out for good.
It wouldn’t dampen my spirits though. My Grandfather lived in Maida Vale, just around the corner and it stayed with me how close he lived to Lord’s. Fast forward to 2019 and I stayed in the very same flat when in London as it is still in the family. It brought back yet more heartwarming memories of my childhood and my first visit to the MCC, which has changed hugely in some ways and has remained much the same in others.
Long days at the cricket, without watching much of it.
Memories are certainly put under pressure when alcohol is involved, and as a young adult, my association with Lord’s was about having a good drink and socialising, all day. When I mean all day, I really do mean all day as well.
We would arrive on the morning of a test and if we were lucky, had access to the pavilion, if not we would find a table in the Harris Garden and settle in for a few sharpeners before play started. These few tended to become more than a few, due to the fact that each person in our social group would know at least 4-5 people who were also at Lords for the day. Meaning there would be countless meetups, more drinks bought and dozens of phone calls and arm-waving gestures on display.
I can honestly say there was a period of time where for about 3 years I went to cricket at Lord’s at least 2-3 times a year and never watched a ball.
Dining with Shaun Pollock and Courtney Walsh at Lord’s
I didn’t watch much cricket with these two either, and for the life of me, I can’t remember why I had an invite to watch from one of the dining rooms upstairs. I remember that I took the Real Tennis World Champion, Rob Fahey, with me and we’d all had a rather big night the day before. Which led to quite a lot of mischief at lunch but Shaun and Courtney took it all with good humour, I think it was an ex umpire that took most of the heat!
Walsh, Pollock and Harris - what an attack
I’ll never forget leaning out of the balcony with these two titans of the game and having an idle chat about the bounce of the pitch. Me, the village bowler with two of the greatest bowlers of all time! Bizarre and wonderful memories of me and two giants of test cricket having a drink at Lords.
Real Tennis at Lords
Lord’s cricket ground has one of the 20-odd Real Tennis courts in the UK, and a fine court it is to play on, but my memories are really not about playing, but yes, more socialising.
This amazing sports venue suddenly became even more important to me when I first started playing Real Tennis in around 2006-7. I had played all the racket sports, and Real Tennis was a natural fit for me. I played at Lords a few times and the court is sharp and direct and rewards traditional floor play.
Off the court, there is a thriving social scene, and the court has been the venue for some very big matches over the years. One such match was played between a friend of mine and a great rival of his in the final of a tournament specifically for younger players.
It was a bit of a dick-swinging exercise and we brought a good crowd to support but it was played on the same day as a one day international in the cricket! I can’t remember who England were playing but this, of course, meant more people were there, and more people came into the tennis court for a few drinks.
The match was tense and we were loud and obnoxious, the poor opponent must have been fuming. Again, great fun and just an amazing day all round, however, our chum lost with soured it a bit until we hit the pub afterwards to help him forget all about it.
Lord’s and baseball – Swinging away
A late friend of mine had asked the company I was working for at the time to sponsor an exhibition that the Lord’s museum was launching in conjunction with the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was called ‘Swinging Away – How Cricket and Baseball Connect’ and it was a display of items that showed the deep a long connection between these two games whose association is so rooted with national identity.
The exhibition looked great and I went to the preview, and we were given some tickets to invite some people to. I invited Phil Jupitus by tweeting him, and he came, as he was a big baseball fan. We had a tour of Lords as part of the day and lunch in the Tavern. I also invited the then head of MLB in the UK, Clive Russell, who I had been trying to persuade to let me do some work for him.
It didn’t work but we became friends and are connected by our work in sport to this day, which is another cool thing. He then held his fantasy baseball club annual dinner at Lords and I organised a tour for them all, which was again, something Lords did superbly. I have always found their staff to be one of the most helpful in sport.
My life with Lords – Present day
Sadly I have moved out of London so don’t get to do things at Lord’s as much as I once did, but I love St. Johns Wood and if ever I have a spare afternoon I walk there from Maida Vale and have lunch at Harry Morgans or buy some bits at Panzer and walk down to Lords.
I love just walking up to the gates, or popping into the tennis court to say hi. I expect as I get older the test match invites will get fewer and farther between, but when one does come up, I will always say ‘yes’ to the invite, as a chance to visit this most special of venues is one you can’t turn down.
