Tour of Lords

[Howzatone]

Hi there,

Recently, I won a competition to 4 tickets a tour of Lords. However, I was wondering whether you can have the tour on a match day, and if so, can you have it on County matches, one day matches, Tests?

Also, if anyone who has been on the tour can give me a review of what the experience was like, that would be great.

Thanks,

Jake

 

[Langeveldt]

I went on one when I was at the leg spin academy there.. I think it was during the opening MCC match... It was a fairly short tour, but I got to see the long room, all the dressing rooms, the newly constructed media center.. So yeah, definitely well worth doing.. I expect the guy conducting the tour would be dead by now though

 

[Howzatone]

So you got to go on a match day?

 

[Shoggz]

I went on the tour in December 2006.

For me it was a great experience. The guide who took us round had a genuine affection for Lords and the game of cricket in general. He had a number of amusing anecdotes about each part of the tour which really added to the experience.

Actually going into the Long Room and all the other iconic places which I'd heard about so many times from watching and listening to cricket for the past 30+ years, but never actually seen, was truly excellent.

There were about 10 people in the party - myself and my (at the time) 10 year old son, a party of 4 people from India, who were had come over on holiday purely to see the 'cricketing heritage' in England and 4 Australians. As we were in the middle of an Ashes series with England fighting to stay in the series (it was the day Alistair Cook made his century), there was obviously some good humoured banter!

The tour highlight for us was when we went from the home dressing room, through the long room and out onto the pitch.. i.e. following the route the England/Middlesex players take when starting their innings. The guide asked my son if he wanted to be the 'England captain' and lead us all out onto the pitch, which he did whilst holding his new cricket bat I'd just bought for him in the shop. Talk about making his day!

 

[Howzatone]

Thanks for the response Shoggz, but do you know if you can do it on Match days, like on a test match day or anything?

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Hi there,

Recently, I won a competition to 4 tickets a tour of Lords. However, I was wondering whether you can have the tour on a match day, and if so, can you have it on County matches, one day matches, Tests?


Jake

The tours take place from Monday to Sunday at 10am 12pm and 2pm.
If there's a first class or other major match taking place there are no tours on the day or on preparation days.If there's a minor match taking place only the 10am tour takes in the areas used by the players.

 

[Howzatone]

Oh right, okay.

How disappointing, as I'm flying down from Scotland tosee Lords, and it doesn't really seem worth it to just go for an 1hr 40 mins.

Anyone know anyway to get tickets for Days 1 - 4 for the south Africa Test at the Brit Oval?

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Oh right, okay.

How disappointing, as I'm flying down from Scotland tosee Lords, and it doesn't really seem worth it to just go for an 1hr 40 mins.

Anyone know anyway to get tickets for Days 1 - 4 for the south Africa Test at the Brit Oval?

The first 4 days are sold out so you could maybe try eBay.

 

[Howzatone]

Is there not a big thing at the moment to stop you from buying cricket tickets of eBay, and how you could get ejected from the ground with them?

 

[neville cardus]

I went on one when I was at the leg spin academy there.

So, to sum up, you're a leg-spinning, Lord's-visiting, Rhodes-studying South African. Are you sure you're not me?

 

[Goughy]

Hi there,

Recently, I won a competition to 4 tickets a tour of Lords. However, I was wondering whether you can have the tour on a match day, and if so, can you have it on County matches, one day matches, Tests?

Also, if anyone who has been on the tour can give me a review of what the experience was like, that would be great.

Thanks,

Jake

I was supposed to have a review of the Lords Tour up as a CricketWeb feature by last week. Unfortunately it has been delayed. Please look for it in the near future

 

[Smudge]

Nice story I heard from our family friend who - until three years ago - was the CEO of Otago Cricket. He and his wife were over in the UK during the 2004 NZ tour of England and decided, of course, to go on a tour of Lord's. They turned up and were assigned in with a group of tourists, as per normal, I suppose, and as they went around the various areas, the tour guide turned up the Patronising-O-Meter to full, mentioning that "if you're very lucky, you might get to see some of the English or NZ teams practising". Suddenly, Brendon McCullum walks past, sees our family friend and says "Gidday, Graeme - what the hell are you doing here??" and dropped into a conversation with him. Needless to say the big-noting tour guide was more than a little miffed...

 

[Son Of Coco]

Hi there,

Recently, I won a competition to 4 tickets a tour of Lords. However, I was wondering whether you can have the tour on a match day, and if so, can you have it on County matches, one day matches, Tests?

Also, if anyone who has been on the tour can give me a review of what the experience was like, that would be great.

Thanks,

Jake

You can't go on a match day as you go into the dressing rooms/long room etc.

I thought it was a great experience. Also go into the media centre. The guy that did the tour when I went was a great guide.

 

[wisden18]

I've been on 4 of them!

All have been very good, and each time had a different guide. Can't really add much to what has been said, although what has been interesting is that no 2 tours have been the same, in terms of content or places visited.

Would highly recommend them.

 

[Goughy]

Would highly recommend them.

As would I. Quite expensive but certainly worth it.

Fantastic experience but biggest disappointment was that the famous Honours Boards in the dressing rooms look cheap and tacky.

 

[pasag]

Kev, have tried to get in touch with you on MSN for some time about putting the Lord's article up, would be a shame to waste it.

 

[four_or_six]

I went on the tour of Lords at the weekend, it was really great, and I just wanted to recommend it to anyone who hadn't gone. It's a bit pricey but it's worth it.

It was great to see the Ashes (tiny, even though you know it's going to be). But the highlight was the dressing room with the honours boards, and also the media centre was absolutely awesome. The view is fantastic.

I was a bit disappointed with the Long Room, because I always imagined it with a big table down the middle, and to be more austere than it was. Although the Long Room has always been a fascination to me since I was little and I got told women weren't allowed in it, so I probably imagined it as a kid to be really impressive.

Also, we didn't get to go into the players bathrooms, which I really wanted to see. Just to see how plush they were!

 

[wisden18]

What tour did you go on? I went on my 7th (I think!) tour at the weekend too. The 2 p.m. one on the Saturday.

The Long Room normally does have long tables in it, however over the winter as there is no cricket on they take them out (and the chairs) and the room is used for dinners, conferences etc. The chairs that were stacked up in there (the green backed things) are not the normal long room chairs (some of which were stacked up in the corridor outside the home dressing room).

Here's a view of what the room looks like 'in-season', so to speak:

http://www.ebarch.com/media/lords_02.3a49ed39.jpg

 

[four_or_six]

What tour did you go on? I went on my 7th (I think!) tour at the weekend too. The 2 p.m. one on the Saturday.

The Long Room normally does have long tables in it, however over the winter as there is no cricket on they take them out (and the chairs) and the room is used for dinners, conferences etc. The chairs that were stacked up in there (the green backed things) are not the normal long room chairs (some of which were stacked up in the corridor outside the home dressing room).

Here's a view of what the room looks like 'in-season', so to speak:

http://www.ebarch.com/media/lords_02.3a49ed39.jpg

Ah, cool! Thanks for the picture.

I can't remember the time... there were Dutch people on it. How come you were on your 7th?!

 

[wisden18]

Um, I don't think there were any Dutch people on ours (although I can't be sure).

The reason I've been on so many is I'm a member at the Club, so whenever I bring a guest to a game I usually get them to go on a tour (and as tours are free for members I tag along too).

This was actually the first tour I've been on, when there hasn't been a game on; what's interesting is that pretty much all of the 7 tours have been different, in terms of where they go, and the style of the tour guide too.

I know what you mean about it being a bit pricey, but I think they try to run it on a self-funding basis, and from memory, I think, last year's accounts indicated they didn't really make much (if any) profit on the tours. If you bear in mind it's normally £3 to just go into the museum (and the tour ticket entitles you to free entry of the museum) I guess it makes it seem, marginally, a bit better value.