The second Lord's Cricket Ground location

Lord's Middle Ground was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

venue in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

that was established by

Thomas Lord Thomas Lord (23 November 1755 – 13 January 1832) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1787 to 1802. He made a brief comeback, playing in one further match in 1815. Overall, Lord made 90 known appearances ...

in 1811. It was used mainly by

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

for major matches until 1813, after which Lord was obliged to relocate because the land was requisitioned for the cutting of the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in e ...

Matches

The first match known to have been played at Lord's Middle Ground was B Aislabie's XI v G Osbaldeston's XI in July 1811.

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862 Only three first-class matches were ever recorded at the ground, one in each season between 1811 and 1813 at the height of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

. James Rice played all three matches of his first-class career at the Middle Ground and, equally, all the matches ever played at the Middle Ground featured James Rice.CricketArchive – first-class matches played by James Rice
Retrieved on 25 December 2010.

Location

Lord's Middle Ground was at North Bank at the north end of

Lisson Grove Lisson Grove is a street and district in Marylebone, City of Westminster, London. The neighbourhood contains a few important cultural landmarks, including Lisson Gallery, Alfies Antique Market, Red Bus Recording Studios, the former Christ Churc ...

, just south of the modern ground. In 1814, Lord opened the present

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County ...

, formerly a duckpond in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

References

External links

Lord's

1811 establishments in England Cricket grounds in Middlesex Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in London English cricket in the 19th century History of Middlesex Sports venues completed in 1811 Marylebone Cricket Club {{England-cricket-ground-stub