Overview of English Cricket From 1816 To 1863 - MCC and Its Problems

MCC and Its Problems

By 1816, the present Lord's Cricket Ground had become the sport's major venue and was the home of the premier club, MCC. MCC, since it was founded in 1787, had gradually increased its influence and its control, especially in its role as the guardian of the Laws of Cricket. During the 19th century, it made efforts to suppress the gambling that had underwritten and sometimes blighted cricket in the past.

But MCC was by no means in total control of events. It was the subject of bitter controversy in the post-war period, largely because of the activities of Lord Frederick Beauclerk, one of the sport's more dubious personalities who effectively "ran" the MCC Committee for many years.

In 1825, the club almost foundered in the face of a dual crisis. First, on the night of Thursday 28 July following a schools match at Lord's between Harrow and Winchester, the pavilion burned down with the consequent loss of valuable scorecards, records and trophies. Thomas Lord claimed he lost £2600 in paid subscriptions, none of which were ever recovered.

Then William Ward, who was a rich banker as well as a good batsman, had to step in and purchase the lease of Lord's ground to save it for cricket. Thomas Lord had been proposing to build houses on the land which brought cries of outrage from the gentlemen players.

Even so, it was many years before the famous ground's future was secured. The lease was transferred to James Dark in 1835 and he retained proprietary till 1864. Then, in 1860, the freehold was sold by the Eyre Estate to a property speculator for £7,000 and MCC did not bid! In 1864, MCC finally did purchase the freehold but paid £18,333 6s 8d for it with money advanced by William Nicholson. The lease expired same year and so, at last, Lord's was owned in its entirety by MCC.