Today, I’m writing as an avid Indian cricket fan rather than a food and travel blogger.
And I believe today is the ideal time to write about the Home of Cricket, as England recently won their latest ICC tournament trophy. So I decided to dedicate this post to all English cricket fans.
Lord’s Cricket Ground is located in London’s St. John’s Wood neighbourhood. Every cricket fan wishes to see a match, but I realised while exploring this ground that it is best to visit when there is no match taking place. Only you would understand the essence of one of the world’s most famous cricket grounds.
There are a few moments in every cricket fan’s life, particularly in India, that would compel them to visit this ground. To me, it was the 25th of June, 1983, and the 13th of July, 2002. Why is it so special? Because in both events, we demonstrated to the entire world that we are no less than any other great team. We were decent in our backyard since cricket was invented in India, but whenever we travelled abroad, we ended up on the losing side. Whether in Australia, South Africa, or the United Kingdom. However, these two dates altered our perspective on the game of cricket.
You’re probably wondering why these two dates and what they have to do with Lord’s Cricket Ground. Our Indian cricket fans may be aware, but our global cricket fans may be unaware. On June 25, 1983, India won their first cricket World Cup on this very ground. That sparked a revolution in India, with every cricket player in the country taking inspiration from the World Cup and aspiring to hold the trophy or make cricket a career.
And it was on July 13, 2002, that another revolution occurred, and our attitude toward this game shifted. We can also win in other countries.
There are many other highlights, but these are my favourites. To attend the cricket ground tour, I purchased a ticket for around 30 GBP, but because I was a student, it cost me around 23 GBP. The closest tube station to this location is St. John’s Wood Jubilee Line, which takes 5 to 8 minutes on foot.
I can’t describe my excitement as I walked from the station to the ground, numerous cricket matches replaying in my head, and I was standing outside this magnificent cricket ground, amidst the child-like joy.
Visitors can take a tour of Lord’s, which includes The Pavilion, Dressing Rooms, Balcony, Legendry Long Room, JP Morgan Media Centre, and ‘Marylebone Cricket Club’ Museum, where they can see actual Ashes and World Cup trophies, as well as numerous Wisden books and cricket gear used by the game’s greats. The tour lasted about an hour, and I was pinching myself that I was standing in the iconic Lord’s Balcony, where numerous legends have watched and celebrated the action on the ground. The weight of history can actually be felt here.
A visit to the dressing rooms of both the “Home” and “Visitors” teams can bring you up close and personal with what goes on “behind the scenes,” such as how a batsman walks to bat from the dressing room to the stairs to the long room to the members seating area and down to the ground. Not to mention the ‘honours board,’ which displays the names of Test cricketers who have scored centuries or taken five-wicket hauls at Lord’s. The JP Morgan media centre, which was built and commissioned for the 1999 ICC cricket world cup, provides a magnificent view of the ground.