8 Jun 2012 A pair of sliver sauceboats which belonged to one of
the central figures in the history of cricket is to be auctioned
at Bonhams Fine Silver Sale in London on 20 June. They are
estimated at £3,000-4,000. George Finch, the 9th Earl of
Winchilsea was a cricket fanatic though not a particularly good
player. He would travel anywhere to play the game and has the
distinction of having taken part in more games than any other
player in the 18th Century. Finch and Col. Charles Lennox played
for the White Conduit Club (WCC) on the open public spaces of
White Conduit Fields in Islington. Seeking somewhere more
private, the two men commissioned one of the team's professional
players, a bowler named Thomas Lord, to find a new ground for
which they would underwrite the costs. Lord took a lease on land
in Dorset Fields Marylebone (now Dorset Square) and the WCC
played their first match on what was originally called The New
Ground in 1787. The name was soon changed to Lord's Cricket
Ground and, because they were n