England's Cricket Stadia - The History of Lord's and the MCC

If you mention cricket grounds and London, the first thing that most people will think of is Lord's. Perhaps the most famous cricket ground in the world, it is most notably the home of the MCC, the Marylebone Cricket Club, the guardian's of the laws of the game to this day.
In addition it has been the home of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the worldwide governing body of cricket, until they relocated to Dubai in 2005, and is still the home of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the European Cricket Council (ECC). Due to its history, the role it has played in the development of the game and its position as the game's HQ for most of its existence, it is still regarded by most as the spiritual home of cricket despite not necessarily being its administrative centre anymore.
History of the Ground
The ground that we know as Lord's today is in fact the third home for the MCC since its formation. The original Lord's, now known as Lord's Old Ground was created by Thomas Lord in 1787 when he founded the MCC on the site of the modern day Dorset Square, just north of Marylebone. The club's tenure at this ground was cut short because of issues with rent and so he moved it north in 1811 to the second of the MCC's three homes just off the Lisson Grove thoroughfare in St John's Wood. However the MCC's stay at Lord's Middle Ground was even shorter lived as the building of the Regent's Canal forced Thomas Lord to move the club (almost literally) a stone's through further north to its present location in St John's Wood after just three years.
Lord's witnessed the first in its long and illustrious history of cricket matches when the MCC lined up against a team representing Hertfordshire in 1814, whilst a few years later in 1818, it hosted a match which is still being replayed to this day and which made its first appearance on the Old Ground in 1805, between sides from the public schools of Eton and Harrow. However, it wasn't until the relatively late 1884 that the ground saw its first international test match with England hosting their oldest foes Australia.
History of the MCC
The MCC itself was founded as an evolution of earlier cricket clubs whose roots are lost in the mists of time. However, its immediate predecessors were the White Conduit Club and, before that, the London Cricket Club, based in Islington - both general sporting clubs with a focus on cricket. It can even trace some of its DNA (e.g., memberships) back to the early pioneers of cricket at the Hambledon Club based in the Hampshire village, just outside of Southampton. The White Conduit Club (WCC) evolved out of the Star & Garter (previously known as "Je ne sais quoi") club in Pall Mall in the early 18th century and it was this club who drew up some of the earliest laws of the game.
Individual clubs still followed different sets of rules until the Star & Garter's descendant club the MCC took on the mantle of governors of the game of cricket in 1788 and produced the first set of laws which would in time become the game's unifying code. Although the MCC still maintains these laws, it has released much of its governing responsibilities in other areas to newer organisations such as the ICC and the ECB (from 1993 onwards).
uring the 20th century, the MCC also took on the responsibility or raising the England national team and only relinquished this duty too after the winter tour of Australia in 1976/7 although the recognisable bacon and eggs colours of the MCC was used by the team as late as their 1996/7 tour of New Zealand.
Tennis & Other Sports
Lord's and the Marylebone Cricket Club don't just boast a pivotal history in the game of cricket but they also played a fundamental role in the development of the game of lawn tennis and subsequently what we think of as tennis today. Prior to their switch in 1876 to the All England Club at Wimbledon, the MCC was also responsible for the laws of the game in their first couple of years in existence.
The ground even witnessed a baseball games, cricket's distant American cousin, during the First World War between teams representing the US and Canada, whilst many other sports have also made use of the facilities including archery which will make a reappearance there during the 2012 London Olympics.
Modern Developments
Whilst the famous Pavilion, including its Long Room, was built in 1890 in a recognisably Victorian style a large proportion of the grounds other stands have been rebuilt during the late 20th century (e.g., Mounds Stand 1987, Grandstand 1996). The most striking addition to the ground is arguably the futuristic media centre which was finished in 1999 and went on to receive awards for the quality of its design. There are still plans for a further 10,000 seats to be added to the ground to take its capacity up to 42,000 as well as the addition of an ice rink and apartments to go alongside the ground and the club's existing facilities such as the world's oldest sports museum and a rare real-tennis court.

ExperTrans language - multilingual services
ExperTrans voice-overs services
ExperTrans interpreting translation services

The History of Women's Cricket

Cricket is the second most popular sport played in the world! It has worldwide popularity and is quickly growing in the United States market as well. Cricket is also a popular sport with the female population, both as a player and a spectator. I would like to discuss the history of women playing cricket.
Cricket is one of the oldest sports in history. In fact, there is a report of a women's match played as early as 1745 in England. There is not much information of women's cricket reported from 1745 until 1887 when the first women's cricket club was formed in Yorkshire, England. This club was called the White Heather Club. Soon thereafter, in 1894, a women's club was formed in Australia, South Africa and Canada.
From 1926 until 1998 the governing body of women's cricket was the Women's Cricket Association, also called The Association. They governed cricket among women in England, Scotland and Wales. Their main goal was to encourage more women's cricket clubs and encourage women to play after they left school. In 1998 the England and Wales Cricket board took over and are currently the governing body for cricket in those areas.
In December 1934 the first international women's test cricket match was played between England and Australia. In 1958, the IWCC (International Women's Cricket Council was formed to merge all women's team from around the world. In 2005, IWCC merged with the ICC (International Cricket Council) so that the ICC now the governing body of cricket for women, men and youth.
There is a Women's World Cup. This started in 1973, interestingly two years before the first Men's World Cup. Fifteen countries/teams have played in the Women's World Cup thus far and there have been eight total since 1973. Amoung them are; England, India, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Jamaica, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago. The United States has yet to play in the Women's Cricket World Cup.
Today, cricket is very popular among women in England. England and Australia have the strongest teams. There is an effort to make cricket a more popular sport for American women but funding and other metrics have made it hard to move forward with teams. Hopefully, as cricket awareness grows in the US, due to the strong youth effort and number of immigrants who now reside in the United States this will soon change.

ExperTrans language - multilingual services
ExperTrans voice-overs services
ExperTrans interpreting translation services