Cricket 1907

82 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r i l 25, 1907. LORD’S. A hundred and tw enty years have passed away since L ord ’s G round was form ed and the M arylebone Club estab­ lished. T o Thom as Lord, the prime m over in each event, it could never have occurred to what an extent his small beginnings w ould increase, although, as he survived until 1882, he lived long enough to see the game becom e popular throughout the whole country, and L ord ’s and the M .C.C. everywhere recognised as the head-quarters of cricket. The manner in which L ord ’s cam e into existence is interesting. About the year 1780 the Duke o f Dorset, the E arl o f Winchilsea, L ord Strathavon, the Earl o f Barrym ore, Sir H oratio Mann, Sir Peter Burrell, the H on . G. and Capt. M onson, Col. the H on. Charles L ennox, Mr. G. Boult and others began to play in W hite Conduit Fields, Islington, and the distinguished band soon becam e known as the W hite Conduit Club. Owing to a quarrel, how ever, am ong several o f the leading members at the conclusion of the season o f 1780, the career ot the Club was short. W hen it appeared probable that the gentlemen w ould be w ithout a ground where they could indulge in the game in the follow ing year, Thom as L ord, who had been an attendant on the Club, came forward and, being prom ised support, rented a field whereon D orset Square, Marylebone, now stands, and w hich soon becam e know n as L o rd ’s. The ground landlord was the Duke o f D orset, one o f the most enthusiastic cricketers o f the tim e, so one m ay feel sure that L ord rented the enclosure on favourable terms. The ground was ten acres in extent, and for almost a quarter o f a century was the hom e o f the M.C.C. It seem s that, practically from the first, the M arylebone Club was looked up to as the head o f the gam e, for we find that on M ay 30th, 1788— only one year after its form ation— the L aw s were “ revised by the C ricket Club at St. M arylebone.” B orn at Thirsk, in Yorkshire, on N ovem ber 22nd, 1757, L ord was only twenty-nine years o f age when— as subsequent events proved — he imm ortalized him self by founding the ground which has ever since been know n by his name. H is very early years were passed in Y ork­ shire, but he received his education at D iss, in Norfolk. F or several years he was in business as a wine m erchant in Gloucester Street, D orset Square, but, finding it impossible to bestow the necessary amount o f attention upon it, he determ ined to devote all his time and energy to the ground and the Club, o f w hich he appears to have been the Secre­ tary. About 1830 he received an offer, which he accepted, to m anage a small farm at W estm eon, in H am pshire, and there, on January 12th, 1832, he died in his seventy- fifth year. It was on L ord ’s first ground that John Small, senr., Beldliam , T om Walker, F ennex, John B ing, Aylw ard, David Harris, and m any another w orthy belong­ in g to the period when H am bledon was till a pow er in the land, played. It was ere, too, that (in 1806) the G entlem en and the Players first opposed each other. The ground continued to be used until the end o f 1810, when circum stances occurred which compelled L ord to seek fresh fields and pastures new . Mr. Alfred D . Taylor, in his entertaining “ Annals o f L ord ’s and H istory o f the M .C .C .,” states that " T h e lease o f the ground had already expired, and, although L ord still re­ mained in possession, his prospects o f the future were blurred. The old Duke of Dorset, by whom the lease was granted in 1787, had join ed the m ajority, and the property had descended to a Mr. Port- man, and that gentleman, scenting the value o f the site, decided to raise the rent. Portman was obdurate, L ord was stub­ born. The aristocracy o f the club did not exert itself. L ord F . Beauclerck was so nettled at the result o f the m atch above recorded* that he refused to lend a help­ ing hand. The Earl o f W inchilsea had practically ceased to take an interest in the game, and the H on . Col. Lennox had left the country. The result was inevit­ able, for the clim ax was reached, and L ord determ ined to relinquish the ground which had been the scene o f so m any historic batttles.” The second L ord ’s was opened in 1811 and existed for three years only. Lord h im self superintended the rem oval, and had the turf, which had done duty for so m any seasons, taken up and re-laid at his new quarters. The second ground was situated at North Bank, and had to be abandoned in the autumn o f 1S13 as Parliament sanctioned the cutting o f the R egent’s Canal, the course o f which was planned directly through the enclosure. During the winter of 1813-14 L ord again blisied him self in effecting the rem oval of the Chib’s headquarters, and o f the turf, which appears to have possessed except­ ional excellencies. The lease o f the ground— almost eighty years— was pur­ chased by L ord, and, such good progress was made in settling down in the new quarters that everything was in satis­ factory order bv the commencement of the season o f 1814. This, as events have proved, was the last occasion upon which the M .C.C. were obliged to seek a fresh hom e, for they still continue to occupy the site chosen by L ord ninety-three years ago. O f the many historic matches which have been played on the present ground, and the hundreds of famous cricketers w ho have appeared on the sward, volumes could, if necessary, be written. And what an interesting history would result if the task were well performed ! It would be told how the bookmakers could be heard calling out the latest od d s; how m any o f the players were offered bribes to lose matches ; how* the bow ling changed from under-hand to round-atm , and from the latter to the high action now alm ost universal ; how, in 1820, Mr. W illiam W ard made a score o f 278, which still remains the highest obtained there, and how the ground, from being the country rendezvous o f the comparatively few has becom e the frequent resort of * Lord F. Beauelerek and T. C. Howard v. Mr. C. Osbaldestou and VV. Lambert. thousands upon thousands o f followers of the game. In 1814, when the ground was first used, no County clubs were in existence, the Oval was a market garden, whilst Australia, which has So frequently challenged the cricketing supremacy o f England successfully, was alm o-t un­ acquainted with the game. Thomas L ord, who had worked so zealously in the cause of cricket, was accorded better support than he ex ­ perienced at either of the form er grounds, but in July, 1825, he sustained a severe loss through the destruction of the Pavilion by fire. M any valuable records of the game perished in the flames, and it was said that L ord lost docum ents proving that subscriptions. &e., wore duo to h im from the members to the amount of over tw o thousand pounds, none of which he ever received ; it is, however, difficult to believe the report, unless one credits the m embers of that time with possessing but little honesty. A t the time this disaster befel him , L ord was in his sixty-eighth year, and so it is not surprising to learn that he felt him self incapable of further assisting in the affairs of the Club and ground. The property was put up for sale, and at one time it appeared likely that it would fall into the hands of the builders, but, fortunately for cricket, Mr. W illiam W ard cam e forward and paid L ord ,£5,000 for the lease. In 1830 the latter, ow ing to altered circum stances, was anxious to re-sell, and he found a purchaser in James H enry Dark, who had been engaged on the ground since 1805, and was destined to be identified with it for over sixty years from first to last. In 1833 the M .C.C. possessed but 202 members, but eleven years later the names of 405 were on the b o o k s : at the pre.-ent time the number exceeds 5,000, and m any hundreds m ore could readily be added if the Club decided not to lim it the membership. During the Secretary­ ship of Mr. Aislabie, which lasted until his death on June 14th, 1842, the affairs of the M .C.C. were far better regulated than at any previous period of the Club’s history. The late Mr. H erbert Jenner- Fust has left it on record that— “ Matches, and everything else there, were managed by Mr. Aislabie, who, though from his great size was no cricketer, probably knew m ore about the gam e than anyone else. W here he was there was sure to be jollity, and, from old acquaintance, I kept m y name on the books at L ord ’s until he died.” During the latter part of his career, Mr. Aislabie weighed about 19 to 20 stone, and always had som eone to run as w ell as field for h im : — " lie <loats on the gone, has played many a >ear, Weighs at least seventeen stone, on his pins raih' r queer ; But he still takes the bat, and there’s no belter fan That to see him i h n batting attempting to rim.” M r. Philip N orman relates the follow ­ ing amusing anecdote concerning Aislabie. In 1820, as H erbert Jenner and he were on their way to Kirigscote to play in a