The Oval and Lord's — Ground Improvements Shape Victorian Cricket's Showplaces, 1860s

Victorian ground development was driven by competitive commercial logic: better grounds attracted bigger matches and bigger crowds, which justified further investment. Surrey and MCC were both sufficiently solvent by the 1860s to begin systematic improvement.

Lord's in the 1860s was still largely as Thomas Lord had left it: a good playing surface, a simple pavilion, minimal spectator accommodation. The MCC's income from matches and membership was growing, and through the decade the committee began a programme of renovation. The old pavilion was extended, the drainage improved, and the practice ground behind the pavilion enclosed. At The Oval, Surrey had been investing since their 1855 lease renewal; the 1860s saw further improvements to the boundary, the terrace and the famous gasometer end. Both grounds were preparing for a future they could not quite see: The Oval would host the first Test match in England in 1880, Lord's the second in 1884. The improvements of the 1860s were preconditions for that Test match future.