Rabada Joins Greenidge in Super-Elite Honours Board Club at Lords

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Rabada
Rabada (Credit NAPARAZZI via Wikipedia)

Lord’s is considered by many to be the home of cricket and it is a great honour for any player, be they English or otherwise, to play there. Lord’s, located in the affluent London suburb St John’s Wood, was built in 1814 and is owned not by Middlesex, who play their county games there, but by the Marylebone Cricket Club, or MCC.

It is also essentially the HQ of English cricket, being the home of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Until 2005 it was the base for the global governing body, the ICC (International Cricket Council. It is a beautiful ground and a wonderful venue to play cricket at – at least when the weather plays ball.

If it is a dream to play at Lord’s, then playing well and winning there can only be even more magical. The ground is steeped in history, lore and tradition, and one of its many quirks is the way in which it celebrates individual brilliance.

Honours Board at Lord’s

Lord's Honours Board
Lord’s Honours Board (Credit Spike ’em via Wikipedia)

Any batter who scores a Test century, or any bowler that takes five wickets in an innings (or 10 in a match, though of course that is only possible by taking at least five in at least one innings), is remembered forever at the ground by having their name added to iconic Honours Board at Lord’s. In more recent years it is not just Tests that count, with both men’s and women’s Limited Overs Internationals also becoming eligible in 2019.

Within the pavilion, there are Honours Boards in the home and away dressing rooms, recording each and every player over the years who has achieved one of these cherished feats. There are many players who have managed to see their names added to the boards for both batting and bowling.

Great all-rounders including English heroes Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff have both made a century and taken a five-wicket haul at Lord’s. Equally, in the away dressing room, perhaps the greatest all-rounder of all time, Sir Garfield Sobers, is among the brilliant all-rounders to have their name on both sections of the honours board.

Equally, there are lots of players who feature multiple times, with Joe Root’s name now on the board eight times thanks to his eight tons at HQ – no player can better that. However, when it comes to having your name on the Honours Boards in both dressing rooms, things are rather different. In the 200+ year history of Lord’s, there are just two names that can be seen in both the home and away parts of the pavilion.

Gordon Greenidge Makes History


Gordon Greenidge is one of the greatest opening batters of all time and was a key part of the brilliant West Indies sides of the 1970s and 1980s. Along with Desmond Haynes, he made life incredibly difficult for opposition bowlers and their partnership is up there with the best between any two batsmen. On 16 occasions they got their side off to a flyer with an opening stand of three figures or more.

Greenidge ended his Test career with over 7,000 runs, 19 centuries and an average of almost 45, which is very high for an opener, especially in the era in which he played. He holds a number of records but perhaps his most unusual claim to fame is that he was the first – and until the opening day of the 2025 Test World Championship final – only, player to have their name on both the home and away Honours Boards at Lord’s.

The mighty Barbadian first got his name on the board in 1984 with a majestic 214 not out. That saw him honoured in the away dressing room. He would add another century for the West Indies, against England, in 1988, scoring a more modest 103.

However, in between those tons, he also recorded a score of 122 in a fixture between the MCC and a Rest of the World side in 1987. He was playing for the hosts and so, accordingly, his name went up on the home Honours Board.

Interestingly, like another Barbadian, Jacob Bethell, Greenidge could have played for either England or the West Indies having, like England’s current rising star, come to school in the UK at a young age. Of course, Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year from 1977 opted for the nation of his birth, whilst the hugely exciting Bethell has, thankfully, opted to represent his adopted land.

Returning to the topic at hand, however, and Greenidge was, for a long time, the answer to a nice little quiz question: who is the only player to have their name on the home and away Honours Boards at Lord’s? He remains the answer to a similar question, but now the question must be who was the first player to achieve such recognition.

Brilliant Rabada Joins Greenidge in Gold


Now there are two players to have their names up in gold lettering in both dressing rooms at the most iconic cricket ground in the world. On the first day of the 2025 World Test Championship between South Africa and Australia, the exceptional quick bowler Kagiso Rabada. Rabada wasted little time in making his mark on a day on which 14 wickets fell in total.

His side won the toss and opted to bowl, Rabada taking the new ball and dismissing Aussie opener Usman Khawaja for a duck, albeit a 20-ball one. He took the second wicket of the match too before getting the key wicket of Beau Webster (who top-scored with 72), and then helping mop up the tail.

That saw him end with figures of 5/51 and earn his right to have his name up in gold. South Africa had nominally been designated as the home side for this neutral Test and occupied the home dressing room, so Rabada’s name will now be added to the hone Honours Board.

He previously got his name on the away one back in 2022 with remarkably similar figures of 5/52 against England. Before him, Vernon Philander was the last man to get his name on the board for the Proteas 10 years earlier and now Rabada, who has taken over 300 Test wickets, has a further piece of history to his name.