Cricket ground's beginning to cheer society toffs (9)

I believe the answer is:

lordships

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'to cheer society toffs' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'cricket ground's beginning' is the wordplay.
'cricket ground' becomes 'lords' (English cricket ground).
'beginning' becomes 'hips' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'lords'+'hips'='LORDSHIPS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for lordships that I've seen is " Judges".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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