Southampton: Let’s get a bit trivial to begin with. Did you know who introduced the third stump? Who first brought in the width of the bat regulation? And who discontinued rolling the ball along the ground while bowling?

Much before London’s Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) became the custodians of the laws, it was at the Broadhalfpenny Down ground where the three key laws that define the modern game — introduction of length bowling, addition of a third stump and the regulation of bat width — transformed cricket from just another pastime to England’s national sport.