KEEPING LORD'S WORLD CLASS
Founded in 1787, Marylebone Cricket Club is the most active and famous cricket club in the world and owner of Lord's Cricket Ground - the Home of Cricket.
© Copyright 2013
Read below for major milestones in the history of MCC and Lord's Cricket Ground.
| Year | Event |
| 2012 | Derek Brewer becomes the 15th Chief Executive & Secretary of MCC, joining from Nottinghamshire in May |
| England beat the West Indies in the first Test of the summer | |
| Tony Greig delivers the Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture | |
| Lord's hosts the London 2012 Olympic Archery event | |
| South Africa beat England at Lord's to become the top ranked Test team in the world | |
| 2011 | The 2,000th Test match is played at Lord's between England and India - with England winning by 196 runs |
| MCC signs a groundbreaking sponsorship deal with J.P. Morgan | |
| MCC Secretary & Cheif Executive Keith Bradshaw announces his resignation from the job after five years in charge | |
| Kumar Sangakkara makes headlines around the world after his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture | |
| 2010 | Shane Watson & Marcus North become the first names added to the new Neutral Test Honours Boards |
| MCC allows perambulation during the England v Bangladesh Test for the first time in many years | |
| Shahadat Hossain & Tamim Iqbal become the first Bangladesh players to earn a place on the Lord's Honours Boards | |
| MCC plays the first ever day-night, first-class match, with a pink ball in Abu Dhabi | |
| 2009 | The ICC World t20 opening match and men and women's finals take place at Lord's |
| MCC Member Clare Taylor is the first woman to be named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| Ten year anniversary of women Members of MCC | |
| 2008 | Archbishop Desmond Tutu delivers the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture |
| Inagural Indian Premier League signs up to MCC Spirit of Cricket campaign | |
| New digital scoreboards installed at Lord's | |
| MCC Head Coach Clive Radley is awarded an MBE at Buckingham Palace | |
| 2007 | First floodlit match played at Lord's between Middlesex and Derbyshire |
| A performance of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet is performed at Lord's | |
| First international Archery tournament to be held at Lord's takes place | |
| Hamid Hassan becomes the first Afghan player to play at Lord's | |
| Ashes Urn returns to Lord's after MCC Travelex Ashes Exhibition across Australia | |
| 2006 | Keith Bradshaw becomes first non-Britain to be chosen as MCC Secretary & Chief Executive |
| Claire Taylor hits the highest score in a ODI at Lord's - 156 against India | |
| Andrew Strauss and Charlotte Edwards unveil plaques to mark the second Lord's Ground, used between 1811 and 1813 | |
| Monty Panesar becomes the first graduate of an MCC University team to play for England | |
| 2005 | International Cricket Council leaves Lord's for Dubai |
| MCC stages a fundraising match at Lord's which raises £650,000 for tsunami recovery projects | |
| International Olympic Committee announces that Lord's will host London 2012 Archery competition | |
| Completion of £8.2million Pavilion refurbishment | |
| 2004 | Lord's attracts record t20 crowd of 27,509 for its first match in the competition - Middlesex v Surrey |
| Rachael Heyhoe Flint becomes first woman to be elected to the MCC Committee | |
| See-through sightscreen installed in front of the Pavilion | |
| 2003 | MCC's Young Cricketers programme includes female players for the first time |
| 2002 | Re-laying of the outfield at Lord's |
| MCC becomes first cricket club in Britain to develop drop-in pitches | |
| Last Benson & Hedges Cup Final | |
| 2001 | Women's Varsity Match played at Lord's (on the Nursery Ground) for the first time |
| 2000 | England beat West Indies in the 100th Test at Lord's |
| 1999 | Lord's stages the ICC World Cup Final as Australia beat Pakistan |
| J.P. Morgan Media Centre (formerly sponsored by NatWest & Investec) is opened at the Nursery End (Architect: Future Systems) | |
| 1998 | MCC votes to admit women as Club Members |
| 150th anniversary of WG Grace's birth celebrated by MCC v Rest of World match | |
| Brian Johnston Film Theatre opened in MCC Museum | |
| Third Grand Stand opened (Architect: Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners) | |
| 1997 | MCC & ECB launch first Lord's website |
| Domestic cricket's governing bodies combine to form the England & Wales Cricket Board | |
| 1996-97 | Second Grand Stand demolished - building of third commenced |
| 1995 | New Indoor Cricket School opened (Architect: David Morley) |
| 1993 | The England women's cricket team wins the ICC World Cup at Lord's |
| Re-opening of refurbished MCC Museum | |
| 1991 | Opening of Compton & Edrich stands (Architect: Michael Hopkins & Partners) |
| Launch of Tours of Lord's | |
| Centenary of Lord's Pavilion | |
| 1989 | 'Q' Stand renamed the Allen Stand in memory of Sir George 'Gubby' Allen |
| 1988 | The Ashes leave Lord's for the Australian bicentenary celebrations |
| Electronic scoreboard installed between the Tavern and Mound stands | |
| 1987 | Bicentenary Gates presented by the Duke of Westminster in memory of Viscount Cobham |
| New Mound Stand opened by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (Architect: Michael Hopkins & Partners) | |
| Bicentenerary of MCC celebrated by MCC v Rest of World match | |
| 1985 | Opening of new MCC Library |
| 1983 | Lord's hosts third World Cup Final as India upset favourites West Indies |
| 1980 | Centenerary Test match, England v Australia |
| 1979 | Second World Cup Final is held at Lord's - West Indies beat England |
| 1977 | MCC Indoor School opened by Sir George 'Gubby' Allen |
| 1976 | First women's match at Lord's - England v Australia in an ODI |
| 1975 | First Prudential World Cup final is held at Lord's - West Indies beat Australia |
| 1972 | First Benson & Hedges Cup Final - Leicestershire beat Yorkshire |
| 1969 | First meeting of the Cricket Council - comprised of MCC and the newly formed TCCB and NCA |
| 1968 | New Stand opened on site of old Tavern (Architect: Kenneth Peacock) |
| 1967 | New Tavern opened (Architect: David Hodges) |
| 1963 | First Gillette Cup Final - Sussex beat Worcestershire |
| 1962 | Last Gentlemen v Players match |
| 1958 | Warner Stand opened on the site of the old 'A' Encolsure (Architect: Kenneth Peacock) |
| 1953 | Coronation Garden made |
| HRH The Duke of Edinburgh opened the Memorial Gallery to the memory of cricketers of all lands who lost their lives in the two World Wars (Architect: J.H. Markham) | |
| 1949 | HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is MCC President |
| Twenty-six retired professional England cricketers made Honorary Life Members of MCC | |
| 1938 | Introduction of TV cameras at Lord's Test |
| 1937 | MCC's 150th Anniversary |
| 1934 | Harris Memorial Garden made and 'Q' Enclosure built (Architect: Sir Herbert Baker) |
| 1925-26 | Second Grand Stand built and Father Time weather-vane presented by architect Sir Herbert Baker |
| 1923 | WG Grace Memorial Gates erected in St John's Wood Road (Architect: Sir Herbert Baker) |
| 1914 | Centenary of the Ground on its present site |
| 1912 | Australia beat South Africa in the Triangular Tournament - the first Lord's Test not to feature England |
| 1909 | Imperial Cricket Conference inagurated by England, Australia and South Africa |
| 1906 | Press box built |
| 1904 | Advisory County Cricket Committee first met at Lord's |
| 1903-04 | First MCC tour of Australia |
| 1902 | Easter Coaching Classes begin at Lord's |
| 1899 | Albert Trott hits a shot clean over the Pavilion - a feat never since repeated, though Kieron Pollard came close in 2010 |
| 1898-99 | Mound Stand built on the site of the old tennis court - new tennis court built behind the Pavilion |
| Board of Control for Test matches at home first met at Lord's | |
| 1889-90 | Present Pavilion built (Architect: Thomas Verity) |
| 1888 | Bill to take over the Ground for extensive railway development rejected |
| 1887 | Centenary of MCC |
| Three and a half acres of Henderson's Nursery purchased on what eventually became the Nursery Ground | |
| 1884 | First Test match at Lord's - England beat Australia by an innings |
| 1877 | Middlesex CCC first played at Lord's |
| 1875 | MCC Tennis & Racquets sub-committee drafted first laws of Lawn Tennis |
| 1868 | Aboriginal cricketers become the first Australian team to play cricket at Lord's |
| 1867-68 | Second Tavern built (Architect: Edward Paraire) |
| 1866-67 | First Grand Stand erected (Architect: Arthur Allom) |
| 1866-67 | Freehold of the Ground purchased for £18,333 6s 8d with money advanced by William Nicholson |
| 1865 | First groundsman engaged |
| 1860 | Freehold of the Ground sold by the Eyre Estate to Mr Moses for £7,000 - MCC did not bid |
| 1848 | A printing tent was first erected on the Ground and match cards sold |
| 1846 | First telegraph scoreboard installed |
| 1838 | Tennis court built on the site of the present Mound Stand |
| Pavilion lit by gas | |
| 1837 | Golden Jubilee of MCC celebrated by a grand North v South match |
| 1835 | Lord's Ground lease transferred to J.H. Dark, who remained proprieter until 1864 |
| 1832 | Thomas Lord dies at West Meon |
| 1827 | First Oxford v Cambridge match at Lord's |
| 1825 | Pavilion destroyed by fire, with the loss of all records |
| 1814 | Lord's Ground moved to its third and present site |
| 1811 | MCC moved to North Bank, Regent's Park |
| 1806 | First Gentlemen v Players match |
| 1805 | First Eton v Harrow match (Lord Byron was in the Harrow team) |
| 1787 | Thomas Lord's opens his first Ground in Dorset Fields and MCC was formed |