Lord’s Cricket Ground, one of cricket’s most iconic and celebrated venues, is a dream for any cricketer to play at and thanks to its topography, presents the participants with a unique challenge – the infamous Lord’s slope. For someone used to playing on flattened grounds and who has never had a bowl or bat at Lord’s before, it can be a tricky and a bit unsettling affair to get adjusted to this “idiosyncrasy” of the venue. What is Lord’s Slope? As the name suggests, it’s a gradient which starts from the Pavilion end and runs all the way to the Nursery End. The eight-foot two-inch incline, which runs diagonally, is visible from the front (in the direction of the pitch) and may not appear as distinguishable when viewed from sideways. So What’s The Big Deal With Lord’s Slope? It is a big deal. For bowlers, if they are running in from the Nursey End, the slope takes the ball away from a right-handed batter and into the left-hander. On the other hand, when bowling from the Pavilion End, the slope takes the ball into the right-hander and away from the left-hander. For batters, they have to make adjustment to ensure their head isn’t falling over down the hill. “A delivery that seems to be going straight tends to shape away after pitching; and the opposite happens from the other end. So, you’re either playing outside the line or inside to compensate for the movement off the pitch caused by the slope. This is why, if the ball manages to hold its line after pitching, it feels like it has done a lot. But replays often show that it didn’t really do that much after all,” explains Aakash Chopra in a column for ESPNcricinfo. So It Benefits The Bowlers? To an extent but it’s also a challenge for the bowlers to get used to the slope. They have to hold their action till the last second to ensure head and arms don’t fall away. Failing to do so will result in them missing the mark. Why Is There A Slope To Begin With? Time for a quick history lesson. The ground was built over two centuries ago – in 1814. It’s on a land in John’s Wood, London. The piece of land, originally a duck pond, on which it was build has a natural slope. The owner, Thomas Lord’s, kept the slope. Why Hasn’t Lord’s Slope Been Flattened Then? There have been discussions in the past to level the surface, but history, tradition and the long process required for the rebuild have thwarted the attempts.