London has two major cricket grounds: Lord's in St John's Wood, home of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Middlesex, and The Kia Oval in Kennington, home of Surrey. International matches sell out and are sold mainly through ballots and memberships months ahead, while county matches are cheap, relaxed and the easiest way for a visitor to see cricket.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game between two teams of eleven players. One team bats and tries to score runs, while the other bowls and fields and tries to get the batters out; then they swap. The English season runs from spring to late September, and London hosts everything from five-day Test matches to short evening games that finish in about three hours.
You do not need to understand every rule to enjoy a day at the cricket. Many spectators come for the setting, a picnic and a slow afternoon in the sun as much as for the sport. This guide explains the formats, how tickets work at both grounds, what you can bring, and the unwritten rules that make a day at Lord's very different from a Premier League football match.
London cricket in brief
- Lord's
- St John's Wood, NW8; owned by MCC; home of Middlesex and London Spirit (The Hundred)
- The Kia Oval
- Kennington, SE11; home of Surrey County Cricket Club
- Season
- Spring to late September
- 2027 at Lord's
- England v Bangladesh Test (28 May-1 June), Ashes Test v Australia (30 June-4 July)
- International tickets
- Ballots and member priority; general sale only if seats remain
- Both grounds
- Cashless; digital tickets on the ground's app
Cricket formats in plain language
The format decides how long a match lasts, how much it costs and what the atmosphere is like. A Test match between two countries is the traditional, longest form, and a day at a Test is a very different experience from a noisy evening at a short-format game.
| Format | Length | What it is like |
|---|---|---|
| Test match | Up to five days, about six hours of play a day | International; tactical and slow-building, the highest prestige |
| County Championship | Four days | Domestic first-class cricket between counties; quiet, cheap, easy to get into |
| One-Day International (ODI) | One day, 50 overs per side | International; a full day out with a result the same evening |
| T20 (Vitality Blast) | About three hours, 20 overs per side | Domestic; evening games, music, a lively crowd |
| The Hundred | 100 balls per side, shorter than T20 | City-based teams in summer; family-friendly, with men's and women's matches |
An "over" is a set of six balls bowled from one end. When commentators say a team is "all out", ten of its eleven batters have been dismissed. A Test match can end in a draw if neither side wins in the time available, which surprises many first-time spectators.
Photo: Yorkspotter · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized
Lord's: the ground and what makes it special
Lord's is owned by MCC, a private members' club that is also the guardian of the Laws of Cricket. The Victorian Pavilion, with its Long Room and the dressing room balconies, faces the modern stands and the media centre across the field. The ground is used for England Test matches and one-day internationals, for Middlesex's county games, and for London Spirit in The Hundred.
The Pavilion and some other areas are for MCC members and their guests, who follow a formal dress code on most match days: for men a jacket, collared shirt and tie. In the public stands there is no dress code at all, although fancy dress is not allowed. Hospitality areas and restaurants are smart casual.
If you cannot get to a match, the 100-minute guided tour of Lord's (£32.95 for an adult in 2026) visits the Pavilion, the Long Room and the museum with the Ashes urn. Our guide to stadium tours in London compares it with the football grounds. Lord's is a short walk from the Abbey Road crossing and from Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, so a tour fits easily into a morning in north-west London.
The Kia Oval: south London's Test ground
The Oval, known as The Kia Oval for sponsorship reasons, is in Kennington, south of the Thames. It is the home of Surrey County Cricket Club and hosts England Test matches and white-ball internationals. Surrey says its 2027 membership gives first access to tickets for the 2027 Ashes matches against Australia at the ground.
The atmosphere is often louder and less formal than at Lord's, and the ground is close to central London: Oval and Kennington stations on the Northern line are a few minutes from the Pavilion End, and Vauxhall (Victoria line and trains from Waterloo) is about six minutes' walk from the other end. As at Lord's, the Micky Stewart Members' Pavilion is for Surrey members only.
International matches in 2027 and how the ballots work
Tickets for England's home internationals in London are in heavy demand, and both grounds now use ballots and member priority before any general sale. The 2027 season includes an Ashes summer, so demand will be especially high.
- Lord's, 2027: England v Bangladesh Test, 28 May to 1 June; England v Australia Ashes Test, 30 June to 4 July; England v Australia women's Ashes ODI, 16 July; England v New Zealand ODI, 16 September. MCC's ballot for 2027 international tickets is open now on lords.org.
- The Kia Oval, 2027: Surrey's 2027 ticket ballot is open until Sunday 15 November 2026. Results are announced on Monday 23 November, the ballot priority window opens on Tuesday 24 November, and any remaining tickets go on general sale on Tuesday 8 December. Surrey members buy before ballot entrants, and membership is the only way to guarantee general admission tickets for internationals there.
The Oval's 2027 ballot closes on 15 November 2026. You do not have to say how many tickets you want when you apply. Successful entrants buy on a first-come, first-served basis during their window, so be ready on 24 November with your account set up and your card to hand.
What tickets cost
Prices depend on the match, the day and the stand. As an example, these were MCC's public stand prices for the England v New Zealand men's Test at Lord's in June 2026. Prices for 2027 were not yet published when we checked, and prices for an Ashes Test may be different.
| Category | Adult, days 1-3 | Under 16, days 1-3 | Adult, day 4 | Under 16, day 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | £135 | £45 | £105 | £30 |
| C | £95 | £40 | £80 | £20 |
| D | £85 | £40 | £70 | £15 |
| E (restricted view) | £70 | £20 | £60 | £15 |
On those prices, two adults and two children in category D paid £250 for one of the first three days. Women's internationals were far cheaper: for England v India women at Lord's in July 2026, standard adult tickets were £20 to £40 and under-16s £5 to £10 on the first three days. The men's ODI against India cost £90 to £180 for adults. Wheelchair and ambulant-disabled tickets at Lord's are priced at category D wherever they are, with a free ticket for a carer.
At Lord's, under-16s aged 14 or younger must be with an adult ticket holder, and babies who sit on a lap go in free; any child aged three or over needs a ticket. At The Oval, all children over two need an under-16 ticket.
County cricket: the easy way in
If you want to watch cricket on a short trip, go to a county match. County Championship days rarely come close to selling out, you can move around the ground, and you can see international players in a calm setting. At Lord's, Middlesex play Northamptonshire in the County Championship from Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September 2026, near the end of the season.
Surrey's September 2026 County Championship match at The Oval opened the gates at 9.30am, with the first ball at 10.30am, and entry was free from 4pm with a complimentary final-session ticket. Check the club's match-day guide for the same kind of offer at future games. In summer, the evening T20 matches of the Vitality Blast and the games in The Hundred are the lively alternative, and they suit families.
Free cricket after 4pm is worth checking for. For some county days Surrey has let people in free for the final session with a complimentary ticket booked online. It is a good way to see The Oval without spending anything, especially on a sunny September afternoon.
Buying tickets safely
Buy from the ground's own ticketing site: tickets.lords.org for Lord's and the Surrey ticketing site for The Oval, or from the authorised partners they name. Surrey says tickets for its grounds offered on third-party resale websites, online marketplaces or by touts outside the ground are not authorised by the England and Wales Cricket Board or the club, and that it has seen edited and cancelled tickets sold that way. Sellers can have their tickets cancelled and their accounts blocked.
MCC "strongly discourages" third-party resale sites, and selling a Lord's ticket above face value breaks its terms and conditions. Both grounds run official resale for sold-out days: at Lord's you return tickets to the club, and at The Oval you list them on the Ticket Exchange, which closes 24 hours before the start of play. If you are looking for a ticket to a sold-out day, watch these official platforms.
Both grounds use digital tickets. At Lord's your ticket appears in the Lord's app and activates with a QR code 24 hours before the match, and screenshots or photos are not accepted. The Oval's tickets appear in the Kia Oval app about four weeks before the fixture, and again screenshots are refused. A confirmation email is not a ticket.
What to bring, and the alcohol rules
Lord's says it is the only international cricket venue in the world where adult spectators can bring their own alcohol. For most matches each adult may bring one bottle of wine or Champagne (up to 750ml), or two cans or bottles of beer or cider (up to 500ml each), or two cans of premixed drinks (up to 330ml each). Spirits and fortified wine are not allowed, and you cannot be readmitted with alcohol. For T20 Blast and Hundred matches, general admission ticket holders may not bring alcohol at all.
At The Oval the rules depend on the fixture. For some county matches Surrey has allowed up to four 500ml cans of beer or a 750ml plastic container of wine per person, but check the match-day guide for your game. Both grounds are completely cashless, so bring a card or phone.
- Sun cream, a hat and a waterproof: some seats are uncovered, and umbrellas cannot be used during play at Lord's.
- A refillable water bottle: Lord's has 25 water fountains around the ground.
- A cushion and a picnic for a long day.
- Leave at home: fancy dress, musical instruments and noise makers, and (at Lord's, except for T20 and Hundred games) flags and banners.
Pack layers even in summer. Our guide to London weather and what to pack shows how cool an evening session can be in May or September.
Etiquette in the stands
Cricket crowds follow some unwritten rules. Try to leave or return to your seat between overs, not while a bowler is running in, and avoid walking in front of the large white sightscreens behind the bowler's arm, which help the batter see the ball. Applaud good play by both teams, including a batter reaching 50 or 100 runs.
Lord's has written rules on mobile phones. In the Pavilion, phones must be silent and you must not talk into them at any time. In the stands, from the moment the umpires walk out until they leave the field, phones must not ring and you must not make calls. Lord's also bans stacking more than six plastic cups into a "snake" in the stands, and anyone who ignores this can be removed.
If a ball comes into the crowd, you may catch it, but throw it back. Keep an eye on play when you sit near the boundary: a well-struck ball travels fast.
Getting to Lord's and The Oval
Lord's gives these walking times: St John's Wood (Jubilee line) about 10 minutes, though it is often very crowded; Marylebone (Bakerloo line and Chiltern Railways, in the Marylebone neighbourhood) 12 minutes; Warwick Avenue (Bakerloo line) about 17 minutes; Baker Street 18 minutes. Buses 13 and 113 stop on Wellington Road and buses 139 and 189 on Grove End Road. For step-free travel, MCC suggests the 189 bus from Kilburn or the 13 from Golders Green. There are Santander Cycles docking stations within five minutes' walk; see our guide to cycling in London.
For The Oval, use Oval or Kennington (Northern line) or Vauxhall (Victoria line and South Western Railway). There is no match-day parking at or near the ground. Our Underground guide explains the Northern line's two central branches, and our guide to accessible London covers step-free routes.
A summer of sport in London can combine cricket with Wimbledon, which overlaps with the Ashes Test at Lord's in 2027. For other things to do in the same weeks, see London in June and London in September.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get tickets for cricket at Lord's?
Buy through tickets.lords.org or the Lord's app. For 2027 international matches, including the Ashes Test, MCC runs a ballot, now open on lords.org. County matches with Middlesex are much easier to get into and are sold on the same site.
Can you take your own alcohol into Lord's?
Yes, for most matches. Each adult may bring one bottle of wine or Champagne, or two cans of beer or cider, or two cans of premixed drinks. Spirits are not allowed, and general admission ticket holders cannot bring alcohol to T20 Blast or Hundred matches.
Is there a dress code at Lord's?
Not in the public stands, although fancy dress is banned. The Pavilion has a formal code for members and guests on most match days, including a jacket and tie for men, and hospitality areas and restaurants are smart casual.
When is the ticket ballot for internationals at The Oval?
Surrey's 2027 ballot is open until Sunday 15 November 2026. Results come out on 23 November, successful applicants can buy from 24 November, and any tickets left go on general sale on 8 December 2026. Surrey members get priority over ballot entrants.
What is the cheapest way to watch cricket in London?
Go to a county match at Lord's or The Oval. Tickets cost far less than internationals, and at some Surrey county games entry has been free for the final session from 4pm. Women's internationals are also much cheaper than men's.
Sources
- MCC - Lord's ticketing FAQs (2026 prices and resale) (checked September 2026)
- MCC - 2027 International fixtures at Lord's (checked September 2026)
- MCC - General Ground Regulations (checked September 2026)
- MCC - What to bring (checked September 2026)
- MCC - What to wear (checked September 2026)
- MCC - How to get to Lord's (checked September 2026)
- Surrey County Cricket Club - Kia Oval FAQs (2027 ballot) (checked September 2026)
- Surrey County Cricket Club - The Kia Oval match-day guide (checked September 2026)