New exhibition celebrates the joy, camaraderie and grassroots reality of women's and girls' cricket, told through the community's own photographs, to mark the first ever Women's Test at Lord's.

MCC launched a new photo exhibition at Lord’s during the historic first Women’s Test, celebrating the joy, camaraderie and grassroots reality of women’s and girls’ cricket.

Lord’s, the Home of Cricket, celebrated a record-breaking three weeks as it sold over 100,000 tickets for the matches held during the ICC T20 Women's World Cup and the Rothesay Test between England and India, as well as setting a new world record for a single day attendance at a Women’s Test match when 15,243 watched a captivating day’s cricket.

The cumulative attendance record was then broken as 37,846 watched across the four days, surpassing records previously held by the MCG. Monday 13 July, the last day of the fixture, saw MCC open the gates for anyone to come and watch the final stages of the game for free.

The Rothesay Test match between England and India took place exactly 50 years after the first women’s international was played at Lord’s in 1976, when Rachael Heyhoe Flint led out England.
Under the Warner Stand was transformed as part of the celebration, with MCC inviting the women’s and girls’ cricket community to help write the next chapter of the game by submitting photographs that capture what it means to them. The result is a new exhibition that brings to life the joy of the grassroots game, through the lens of the people at the heart of it.

Clubs and individuals from across England submitted images of the game as it is lived: players, guardians, volunteers and coaches sharing the joy of cricket with their community. Saturday morning fixtures sit alongside winning celebrations, overseas tours and lifelong friendships. The exhibition offers a rare look at scenes that rarely make it beyond the clubhouse, now on display at the Home of Cricket.

Katie Maier, Chief Marketing Officer at MCC, said:

“Lord’s is the Home of Cricket, and for us that means supporting women’s and girls’ cricket at every level, from the first overs on a Saturday morning to a historic Test at Lord’s. This is a landmark year for the women’s game, and we wanted this exhibition to tell that story properly, not just through the players walking out for England and India this week, but through the parents driving kids to nets in the rain, the coaches giving up their weekends, and the girls falling in love with the game for the first time. Every photograph here is a reminder of why we do this.” 

The exhibition arrives at a landmark moment for the women’s game. Lord’s has already staged four matches in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup this year and hosted a crowd of over 28,000 for the Final. In total, Lord’s will stage 21 women’s fixtures during 2026, spanning international cricket, domestic competitions and pathway finals.

As the Test gets under way, the photographs on display are a reminder of where the game begins: at clubs and grounds up and down the country and in the passion of the people who show up for it, week after week.

Rhiannon Blake of Rawdon Cricket Club, whose photo also featured in the exhibition, added:

"The photo I submitted was taken during our first Women's 2nd XI home game, in the very first year of Rawdon's Women's Section. We only had nine players, and we took it right to the wire before the opposition chased us down with overs to spare. 

But the moment of the match was 13-year-old Livvy making her senior debut and taking four wickets for 15 runs, including a hat-trick. It was an incredible moment for her, but it also said so much about where the club is heading. For years we lost junior girls who didn't want to play with the boys, and now they have a Women's team to aspire to be part of. We might not have got the win that day, but we're winning in every way that matters. To have this moment now a part of history at Lord’s is incredibly special.”