Editing Lord's (section)

===Early history===
[[File:LordsRelocationMap.png|thumb|Progression of the ground's locations]]
A [[tavern]] was built for Lord in 1813–14,<ref name="FORSIX">Green 2010, p. 46</ref> followed by a wooden [[cricket pavilion|pavilion]] in 1814.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warner |first1=Pelham |author1-link=Pelham Warner |title=Lord's 1787–1945 |year=1987 |orig-year=First published 1946|publisher=Pavllion Books |location=London |isbn=1851451129 |page=28}}</ref> [[First-class cricket]] was first played on the present ground in July 1814, with the MCC playing [[St John's Wood Cricket Club]].<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/596_f.html|title=First-Class Matches played on Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=24 June 2021|url-access=subscription|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624211425/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/596_f.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The first [[century (cricket)|century]] to be scored at the ground in first-class cricket was made by [[Frederick Woodbridge (cricketer)|Frederick Woodbridge]] (107) for [[Epsom Cricket Club|Epsom]] against Middlesex, with Epsom's [[Felix Ladbroke]] (116) recording the second century in the same match.<ref name="FIRSTS"/> The annual [[Eton v Harrow]] match, which was first played on the Old Ground in 1805, returned to the present ground on 29 July 1818. From 1822, the fixture has been almost an annual event at Lord's.{{sfn|Altham|1962|p=67}}

Lord's witnessed the first double-century to be made in first-class cricket when [[William Ward (cricketer, born 1787)|William Ward]] scored 278 for the MCC against [[Norfolk county cricket teams|Norfolk]] in 1820.<ref name="FIRSTS"/> The original [[cricket pavilion|pavilion]], which had recently been renovated at great expense,<ref name="FIRSTS"/> was destroyed by fire following the first [[Winchester College|Winchester]] v [[Harrow School|Harrow]] match on 23 July 1823, which destroyed nearly all of the original records of the MCC and the wider game.<ref>{{cite book|last=Green|first=Benny|year=1987|title=The Lord's Companion|publisher=[[Pavilion Books]]|location=London|page=7|isbn=1851451323}}</ref> The pavilion was promptly rebuilt by Lord.<ref>Green 2010, p. 31</ref> In 1825, the future of the ground was placed in jeopardy when Lord proposed developing the ground with housing at a time when St John's Wood was seeing rapid development. This was prevented by William Ward,<ref name="WISG"/> who purchased the ground from Lord for £5,000. His purchase was celebrated in the following anonymous poem:

<blockquote>
:And of all who frequent the ground named after Lord,
:On the list first and foremost should stand Mr Ward.
:No man will deny, I am sure, when I say
:That he's without rival first bat of the day,
:And although he has grown a little too stout,
:Even Matthews is bothered at bowling him out.
:He's our life blood and soul in this noblest of games,
:And yet on our praises he's many more claims;
:No pride, although rich, condescending and free,
:And a well informed man and a city M.P.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harris, 4th Baron Harris|first1=George|last2=Ashley-Cooper|first2=A. S.|year=1920|title=Lord's and the M. C. C.: A Cricket Chronicle of 137 Years|publisher=H. Jenkins Limited|page=48}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The first [[The University Match (cricket)|University Match]] between [[Oxford University Cricket Club|Oxford]] and [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge]] was held at Lord's in 1827,<ref name="SEVEN">Green 2010, p. 7</ref> at the instigation of [[Charles Wordsworth]], establishing what would be the oldest first-class fixture in the world until 2020. The ground remained under the ownership of Ward until 1835, after which it was handed over to [[James Dark]]. The pavilion was refurbished in 1838, with the addition of [[gas lighting]].<ref>Green 2010, p. 35</ref> Around this time Lord's could still be considered a country ground, with open countryside to the north and west.<ref>Green 2010, p. 37</ref> Lord's was described by [[Thomas Fremantle, 1st Baron Cottesloe|Lord Cottesloe]] in 1845 as being a primitive venue, with low benches put in a circle around the ground at a good distance providing seating for spectators.<ref name="FTYONE">Green 2010, p. 41</ref> Improvements to the ground were gradually made, with the introduction of a telegraph scoreboard in 1846. A small room was built on the north side of the pavilion in 1848 for professionals, providing them with a separate entrance to the field. In the same year scorecards were introduced for the first time, from a portable press, and drainage was installed in 1849–50.<ref name="FTYONE"/>

The [[Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868|Australian Aboriginal cricket team]] toured England in 1868, with Lord's hosting one of their matches to a mixed response, with ''[[The Times]]'' describing the tourists as "a travestie upon cricketing at Lord's" and "the conquered natives of a convict colony". Dark proposed to part with his interest in the ground in 1863, for the fee of £15,000 for the remaining {{frac|29|1|2}} years of his lease. An agreement was reached in 1864, with Dark, who was seriously ill,<ref name="B44">Green 2010, p. 44</ref> selling his interests at Lord's for £11,000.<ref name="SEVEN"/><ref name="WISG"/> The landlord of the ground, Isaac Moses, offered to sell it outright for £21,000 in 1865, which was reduced to £18,150. [[William Nicholson (distiller)|William Nicholson]], who was a member of the MCC committee at the time advanced the money on a mortgage, with his proposal for the MCC to buy the ground being unanimously passed at a special general meeting on 2 May 1866.<ref name="SEVEN"/> Following the purchase, a number of developments took place. These included the addition of [[cricket nets]] for players to practise and the construction of a grandstand designed by the architect [[Arthur Allom]], which was built in the winter of 1867–68 and also provided accommodation for the press.<ref name="FTYFIVE">Green 2010, p. 45</ref><ref>Green 2010, p. 51</ref><ref name="LBH">{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/lord-s-a-brief-timeline-208553|title=Lord's – A brief timeline|date=3 May 2005|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627121421/https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/lord-s-a-brief-timeline-208553|url-status=live}}</ref> This was funded by a private syndicate of MCC members, from whom the MCC purchased the stand in 1869.<ref name="GRA">{{cite web|url=https://www.lords.org/lords/our-history/father-time-wall/1998-the-new-grand-stand-is-completed|title=The New Grand Stand is completed|publisher=www.lords.org|access-date=5 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184734/https://www.lords.org/lords/our-history/father-time-wall/1998-the-new-grand-stand-is-completed|url-status=live}}</ref> The wicket at Lord's was heavily criticised in the 1860s due to its poor condition, with [[Frederick Gale]] suggesting that nine cricket grounds out of ten within 20 miles of London would have a better wicket;<ref name="FTYFIVE"/> the condition was deemed so poor as to be dangerous that [[Sussex County Cricket Club|Sussex]] refused to play there in 1864.<ref name="FORSIX"/>