Lord's Cricket Ground, London
CNN
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At Lord's Cricket Ground, on a quiet, affluent street in north-west London, different architectural eras collide in a mishmash of mismatched styles representing the old and the new.
The magnificent 134-year-old pavilion, with its sandy-brown stone façade covered in ornate decoration, sits at one end looking out onto a futuristic glass media center across the pitch. The media center balances on white pillars and stares out like a giant rectangular eye above the ground.
And nowhere is that collision of old and new more so than when the annual Schoolboys match, Eton v Harrow, is held at Lord's, the self-proclaimed 'home' of cricket and one of its most prestigious grounds. Nothing is obvious.
The match, which pits two of England's most exclusive and expensive private schools for boys, is older than the oldest brickwork at the ground, and was first played in 1805, before Lord's was established in its current location. It was conducted.
However, the match has become increasingly controversial after Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns the ground, pulled the match from the road schedule in 2022, with attempts to reconcile past and present. It has become a symbol of the British group's efforts.
This caused an uproar among the members, and the rival factions eventually reached a compromise in which Lords would host both Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Harrow.
Matches in Cambridge and the finals of English schools and university cricket competitions will continue for a further five years, before being consulted again with members in 2027. CNN has reached out to Eaton and Harrow for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
For its detractors, the game is steeped in elitism, that cricket is an upper-class sport, that public schoolboys play on the holiest of grounds, where the England women's team has never played a Test. It only perpetuates the stereotype that it is a sport played every year.
“It is completely unacceptable to guarantee a small number of boys the right to play at Lord's each year when millions of children are denied that right,” the Independent Commission for Cricket Integrity said in a statement. said in a 2023 report examining inequality and discrimination. .
But for those attending Friday's game – mainly relatives of the boys on the pitch and alumni who have attended the game for decades – this is an important piece of history to preserve and a cherished one. tradition, another victim of “cancel culture.”
Romantic poet Lord Byron attended the first match between Eton and Harrow more than two centuries ago. He then wrote: “We were mostly drunk, and went together to the Haymarket Theater, where we got into an altercation. You might imagine so many Harrovians and Etonians gathering together in the same place.”
The cheers and chants started from the moment both teams took to the sun-drenched pitch on Friday.
“Let's go, hey, hey, hey!” the Etonians rose from the first ball and clapped, even waving their shoes in the air as is tradition. In another section of the stand, the Harrovians responded with a standing ovation for their first boundary, and as a player named Jack Sparrow bowled his first over, the Etonians began playing the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song.
Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
Lord's is one of England's most iconic sporting venues.
“The atmosphere today was incredible. Everyone was really friendly. I've never known such a cheerful atmosphere,” said Mark McCullen, who attended Eton and whose son currently attends the school. told CNN Sports.
There is no certification procedure for the fixture. Eton and Harrow schools play at Lord's because they have played here for his 219 years, and they value centuries of history and still play here from the British establishment. This is because the school produces a disproportionate number of students. Twenty of the country's 45 Prime Ministers (including two of the last five) went to Eton College. Seven more Prime Ministers went to Harrow.
It costs £49,998 ($62,620) a year to attend Eton and £50,550 ($63,310) to attend Harrow, but both offer bursaries and scholarships to a small number of students.
For many spectators, the match is an essential part of each school's history, a tradition dating back to the days when debutants entering high society had to attend this match alongside Wimbledon and Ascot. remains. Times may have changed, but the tradition remains, almost sacred to those who adhere to it and inaccessible to those who do not.
“I think it's quite unfortunate that there are a lot of people like this at MCC.
I think this tournament should be abolished because it is elitist,” said Old Man Harry Wells.
The Etonian first came to the game 57 years ago and is supporting him this year.
A friend's son from the Hello Squad told CNN.
“If we abolish everything, I think our country will sell itself into the river.”
We have cherished it for thousands of years. ”
In the late 1960s, one of the biggest events of the season, horse-drawn carriages would pull up outside the field and leave families there, recalled spectators who attended those games. This year, around 2,000 to 3,000 people were expected to attend, with fewer spectators now and less money being raised for the MCC.
“It used to be a big social event, with people in top hats and tails. It was just part of the season, as they used to say at the time,” Wells added.
Simmons & Thiele/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Spectators gathered at Lord's Cricket Ground during the lunch break for the annual match between Eton and Harrow in 1895.
“Everyone is dressing down now. It's not very formal in any form of society, but if you look here you'll see a lot of people wearing jackets and ties.”
Despite the May sunshine, most of the men walked around in suits, the boys from Eton wearing red striped blazers and matching hats, the boys from Harrow wearing dark blue blazers. Women, on the other hand, wore flowing dresses and blouses, and many carried designer handbags.
“It doesn't feel special at all,” one spectator told CNN, pointing to the 20-pound ($25) ticket.
“The boys have worked really hard to get here… It would be better to get rid of the history because it's traditional and backward and imperialist and whatever,” she added. “We have to learn from the past and we have to learn from past successes.”
The issue of the Eton v Harrow match is currently embroiled in a wider conversation around cricket. The sport has long been associated with the British upper class and has faced accusations of racism, sexism and elitism in its birthplace, but it has millions of fans around the world and It is considered to be more popular than any other sport in the world.
For actor, writer and comedian Stephen Fry, the Eton v Harrow match shows an image that English cricket has never been able to shake off: a “stiff image of snobbery and elitism”.
Tom Jenkins/Getty Images
Harrow won against Eaton in 2024.
“That's not what cricket is about,” Fry, a former MCC president and long-time cricket fan, told The Times in October 2022. And how will it be made available to everyone? ”
In the final on Friday, Harrow won by 91 runs, posting 321-5, while Eton could only respond with 230 all out. And Eaton may not have much of a chance to retaliate.
“Times change. And the world is now very far removed from that world,” current MCC chairman Mark Nicholas told the Telegraph in October.
“Common sense will prevail over the next four years in this compromise…I see a very natural progression from here.”