MCC stumped as girls’ team plays Harrow

Mmembers of the MCC will be choking on their Pimm's.

Harrow schoolboys — who first played cricket at Lord's in 1805 — are to break with the oldest traditions of "the gentleman's game" by competing against a team of girls.

Brighton College girls' 1st XI will take on a Harrow Colts team at the boys' school tomorrow.

Teachers believe the match may be the first example of a contest between boys and girls in senior school sport. The girls are said to be "really excited" about the challenge.

But the fixture is likely to leave the game's traditionalists stumped for words. For more than 200 years women were banned from joining the Marylebone Cricket Club, owners of Lord's, and only gained access to the ground's famous Long Room for the first time in 1999 — when 10 women, including former England captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, were granted honorary life membership.

Brighton College alarmed eminent MCC members by allowing girls and boys to play in the same team in 2005, but the innovation has proved so successful that the independent school now believes the girls are ready to take on a team of boys.

Headmaster Richard Cairns said: "Brighton College has always liked shaking up perceived conventions.

"We don't believe in stereotypes and encourage our boys and girls to pursue their dreams in whatever sphere attracts them."

The head of England women's cricket, Clare Connor, was a pupil and teacher at Brighton College. More recent pupils include World Cup and Ashes winners Laura Marsh, Sarah Taylor and Holly Colvin.