Marylebone Cricket Club Museum

Time Out says

Wed May 28 2008

The big draw here is actually something very, very small. The legendary Ashes Urn draws tens of thousands of visitors each year, as the centrepiece at the world’s oldest sporting museum. Aside from the Ashes, you can see a wide range of cricket-related exhibits, including the stuffed sparrow that was ‘bowled out’ by Jehangir Khan in 1936 and displays dedicated to the life of WG Grace.

Four hundred years of cricketing history is laid out, with many items dating from the nineteenth century alongside rather more recent objects, such as Shane Warne’s cricket kit (pre-Liz Hurley makeover), plus cricket-related paintings by Fanny Rush and Karen Neale. It could be a short browse for those with a casual interest in cricket, but there’s a lot more to delve into for the hardcore fan. There’s also The Brian Johnston Memorial Theatre which enables visitors to see footage of some of cricket’s greatest performances.

A visit to the museum is included in the Lord’s Tour and it can also be visited by match day ticket holders. Lord’s plays host to the Olympic archery events in 2012 so the museum will be closed from July 2-Aug 15, opening only for archery ticket holders during the events. From Aug 16-20 the museum is open only to ticket holders for the Test Match.