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- The White Conduit Club (WCC) was a cricket club based on the northern fringes of London that existed between about 1782 until 1788. Although short-lived, it had considerable significance in the history of the game, as its members created Lord's Old Ground, the first cricket venue which would go on to become Lord's, and subsequently reorganised themselves as the new Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The WCC took its name from White Conduit Fields in Islington where it was based until 1787. It was essentially a gentlemen's club for those with amateur status but it employed professional cricketers who provided coaching for members and sometimes played in the club's matches. One of these was the bowler Thomas Lord, after whom Lord's is named. The most significant members of the club were Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond and George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea who employed Lord to find a new, private venue for the club after complaints that White Conduit Fields was too open to the public. Famous players who represented WCC include the professionals John Small, Lumpy Stevens, Tom Taylor and Tom Walker. Records of many WCC matches are known to have been lost when the Lord's Pavilion burned down in 1825 and only 13 matches between 1784 and 1788 are known today. (en)
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