THE MARYLEBONE CRICKET CLUB
The space at our disposal does not permit
of more than a very inadequate mention of
this famous club, which is indeed more a national than a county institution. The club
virtually was the offshoot of the White
Conduit Club dissolved in 1787. Thomas
Lord established the first ground that bore
his name in Dorset Square. After a temporary residence at North Bank, he opened
the present ground in St. John's Wood,
the first match played there being M.C.C.
against Hertfordshire in 1814. The old
pavilion was burnt in 1820. From time to
time many alterations and additions have
been made.
There are now nearly five thousand members of M.C.C. The administration is in the
hands of a president, nominated annually by
his predecessor, a treasurer, a committee of
sixteen, four of whom retire annually, and
a secretary with a subordinate staff. Any
alterations in the laws of the game must be
approved at a general meeting; and while
these laws are implicitly obeyed in England,
they form, with some modifications, the rule
for cricket in all other parts of the world.
Formerly the matches between M.C.C. and
Ground and certain counties were of an importance far greater than is at present the
case, but the minor matches of the great club
are invaluable for popularizing the game.
The match, North against South, has become
as obsolete at St. John's Wood as the once
famous matches of the All England and
United All England elevens. The centenary
of M.C.C. was observed in June 1887,
when M.C.C. played England; Eighteen
Veterans met the Gentlemen of M.C.C.;
and a banquet was held at which the Hon.
E. Chandos-Leigh, the president of the year,
took the chair, among the speakers being Mr.
Goschen, the Duke of Abercorn, Lord Bessborough, the Provost of Eton, M. Waddington, Mr. E. Stanhope, Lord George Hamilton,
Sir A. L. Smith, Mr. Justice Chitty, and
Lord Harris.