Founding of Marylebone Cricket Club
- When
- 1787
- Where
- Thomas Lord's first cricket ground on the Portman Estate, Dorset Fields, Marylebone; The New Cricket Ground, New Road, Marylebone; Marylebone, London; Lord's, Marylebone
- Episodes
- 4
In 1787 Thomas Lord opened a cricket ground on the Portman Estate in Marylebone, initially called the New Cricket Ground. Its first-known match was played there on 21 May 1787, and the Marylebone Cricket Club, founded that year from White Conduit Club members, played its earliest recorded fixture there on 30 July 1787.
Episodes
- Founding of the Marylebone Cricket Club
The Marylebone Cricket Club was founded in 1787 from White Conduit members; its exact foundation date is lost but fell in late spring or summer 1787.
- Opening of the New Cricket Ground
Thomas Lord leased Dorset Fields from the Portman Estate and opened his first ground in May 1787, initially named the New Cricket Ground.
- First-known Match at the New Ground
On 21 May 1787 the New Cricket Ground hosted its first-known match: White Conduit Club noblemen against Middlesex gentlemen for 500 guineas a side.
- Earliest Notice of the Marylebone Club
The World advertised a 30 July 1787 match at Lord's between the Mary-le-bone Club and the Islington Club, the earliest notice of MCC.
Background and detail
Background. The Marylebone Cricket Club originated as a gentlemen's club flourishing through most of the 18th century, partly as the original London Cricket Club. Arthur Haygarth recorded that the Marylebone Club was founded in 1787 from White Conduit members, though the exact establishment date could not be found; it seems to have been late spring or summer 1787.
The New Cricket Ground. Thomas Lord, acting on behalf of the Islington-based White Conduit Club, took a lease from the Portman Estate on Dorset Fields, where Dorset Square now stands, and prepared the ground, opening it in May 1787. Initially called the New Cricket Ground for its proximity to the New Road in Marylebone, by the end of July 1787 it was known as Lord's.
Early Fixtures of 1787. The first-known match at the ground was advertised in the Morning Herald on 19 May 1787: a grand match on Monday, 21 May between eleven Noblemen of the White Conduit Club and eleven Gentlemen of the County of Middlesex with two men given, for 500 guineas a side. Buckley calls it apparently the first match played on Lord's new ground. Eight matches are known at Lord's in 1787, one a single-wicket event.
MCC's Earliest Recorded Match. The World advertised on Friday, 27 July 1787 a match for Monday, 30 July at Lord's between eleven gentlemen of the Mary-le-bone Club and eleven of the Islington Club. Buckley identifies this as the earliest notice of the Marylebone Club; as with the ground's inaugural fixture, no post-match report survives.
People involved
- Thomas Lord · Founder of the cricket ground
- Marylebone Cricket Club · Cricket club founded in 1787 from White Conduit members
- White Conduit Club · Club whose members founded MCC and played the ground's first-known match
- County of Middlesex · Team of gentlemen facing the White Conduit Club on 21 May 1787
- Islington Club · Opponent of the Marylebone Club in the match of 30 July 1787
Sources
- Marylebone Cricket Club Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
- Lord's Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-19
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.