Hambledon lit the fire, but it took a Yorkshireman to bring cricket to London’s elite. Thomas Lord, bowler turned businessman, dragged the game from a village inn to the heart of the capital, and laid the turf for its future.

Before Lord’s, before Test matches, before the Ashes, there was a chalk ridge in rural Hampshire. Hambledon’s Broadhalfpenny Down became cricket’s first big stage, and where the modern game began to take shape.

By Stephen Saunders Tuesday 23 June 1772 was market day in Hambledon, Hampshire and on that day the first designated first-class match...