Cricket at its Home: Top 5 Test innings at the Lord's

The Lord's Cricket Ground of London is one of the most iconic venues to have ever witnessed the sport of cricket. Established as a set of three grounds between 1787 and 1814, the venue is also one of the oldest ever, being over 200 years old. Widely referred to as the "Home of Cricket", the Lord's have been hosting Tests since 1884, ODIs since 1972 and T20Is since 2009, maintaining a pattern of two Tests and two ODIs per year over a more recent period of time. The stadium capacity is at around 28000.

The Lord's has an enormous history in terms of international cricket, having witnessed several iconic moments. It is only going to get better in the coming days as India are back at one of their favourite venues in England, to play in the second game of the five-match Test series against England who are currently leading the series 1 - nil.

In the meantime, let's take a look at some of the best Test innings that have been played at the venue.

#1 Graham Gooch (333) - 1st Test, India's 1990 tour of England: July 26

Gooch is one of the biggest exponents of English Cricket till date. During his playing days, he had an uncanny perception of the ball as it helped him score big against several opponents. One of his favourite victims were India as he has torn apart the side time and again.

The innings of his life happened against the same side, as in 1990 India toured England, and immediately got a taste of what was to follow, as the man smashed 43 fours and 3 sixes en-route to an innings crafted across 485 deliveries.

India never recovered, as they slumped to a defeat, not able to chase England's 653 and 272, having scored just 454 and 224 in reply. Gooch was also awarded "best player" for the match.

Graeme Smith punishing England

#2 Graeme Smith (259) - 2nd Test, South Africa's 2003 tour of England: August 1

Graeme Smith has always loved to bat in England. He has been part of his side's victories in the country, and every time he has played one good role or the other.

In the summer of 2003, the former South Africa captain played one of his most important knocks as he sent England spiralling to an innings defeat. Thanks to his 370-ball-259 that comprised 34 strikes to the fence, the Proteans compiled 682 for 6 against England's first innings total of 173 all out. In the second innings, England scored 417 but that was not enough for the hosts to overcome South Africa's mammoth total.

Graeme Smith was awarded Man-of-the-match for his knock.

Sir Don Bradman batting

#3 Sir Don Bradman (254) - 2nd Test, Australia's 1930 tour of England: June 29

Until Graham Gooch broke it in 1990, Don Bradman's 254 against England in 1930 was at the top of the Lord's honours' list, being the highest individual score recorded on the venue until then. The greatest batsman of all time whose average of 99.94 will remain the best in cricket for all eternity, Bradman was extraordinary in all levels.

England started well in the game, making 425 runs in their first innings. But Bradman came in and made all the difference as he combined with Woodfull, Kippax, and Ponsford to register 729 for 6 before declaring, making it one of the highest ever totals in the long format. His 376-ball-knock featured 25 fours as well. England still made a healthy 375 in reply, but Australia needed just 72 runs to win the game, which they easily made. Had it been another day and another opponent, England may have won, as here they lost to one single player - Don Bradman.

Jonathan Trott

#4 Jonathan Trott (226) - 1st Test, Bangladesh's 2010 tour of England: May 27

As the Tigers toured the English lands for the second time after 2003, they were probably aware of the immense defeats they had faced back then, and also maybe hoped a change in the situation. But Jonathan Trott proved otherwise on Day 1 of the First Test itself, scoring 226 off 349 balls, helping the hosts to a formidable 505. Bangladesh scored 282 in reply, after which they were asked to follow on when they did better, scoring 382 in the second innings and overcoming the lead. However, England just needed 160 to win, which they easily scored losing just two wickets, Trott himself hitting the winning runs.

The knock, which featured 20 boundaries and cemented his place in the England squad, is Jonathan Trott's career best as well. He retired in 2015 after quite a remarkable career, things taking an ugly turn in the end as he succumbed to stress and quit the game.

Steven Smith

#1 Steven Smith (215) - 2nd Test, Australia's 2015 tour of England: July 16.

The 2015 Ashes featured an England side looking to stage a comeback in the long-format and an Australian side fresh from the recent World Cup win, so it was quite evident as to the fact that sparks would fly on the pitch when the teams met.

In the second Test, Australia started batting first and that was when Steve Smith played a great knock. He was evolving as the best Test batsman of the era, and the shots spoke volumes of his abilities. 25 fours and a six later in a sum total of 346 balls faced, Smith fell LBW to a very unusual bowler - Joe Root, but by then he had scored 215 runs. The main bowlers were so ineffective against Smith, which was probably why captain Alastair Cook did the gamble of bringing in Root, which luckily worked.

The Aussies eventually declared at 566 for 8, and England in reply made 312. Australia then declared at 254 for 2 in their second innings as the hosts, in turn, performed poorly en-route to a mere 103 as Australia celebrated a huge win - by 405 runs. Smith was declared man-of-the-match.