MCC can still afford Lord’s upgrade with just one summer Test

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Tom Collomosse25 July 2017

MCC insist they have the money to fund the redevelopment of Lord’s even if they host only one Test per summer in future.

The club’s committee has rejected plans for a residential development at the Nursery End of the ground, which would have left MCC with more than £100million in the bank.

At a Special General Meeting on September 27, the committee have recommended members opt for the amended Masterplan, which would use MCC’s own resources. The club hope it will be complete by 2032.

Yet cricket in England is changing. An ECB report leaked in May suggested the number of home Tests in a year would drop from seven to six, as part of a media rights package that is also set to include two England Twenty20 matches per summer on free-to-air television.

A Test at Lord’s against one of world cricket’s most prestigious nations can bring up to £5million in ticket sales alone. MCC would campaign strongly for Lord’s to keep its two Tests per summer, but competition is strong.

In a six-Test summer, two Tests for Lord’s would mean a blank year for at least one of English cricket’s five other traditional venues: The Kia Oval, Headingley, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and Old Trafford. If The Oval were retained, as would surely be the case, two Tests at Lord’s would mean half of all five-day games taking place in London.

MCC remain confident Lord’s has a strong case — the ground welcomed 922,807 spectators through its doors for Tests in the past four years — but even if it stages only one Test, bosses are happy the money for the Masterplan can be generated from within.

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A spokesman told Standard Sport: “Even if there is only one Test per summer at Lord’s, MCC members have made it clear they do not want residential development to finance upgrades to Lord’s.

“The financial analysis we have done shows we can redevelop Lord’s even in a one-Test summer, and the club believes it has made its case to retain two Tests per summer.”

Lord’s would also hope to host a new team when the ECB’s proposed city-based Twenty20 tournament starts in 2020. If the ECB’s plans bear fruit, the competition would bring substantial additional revenue to the first-class game.

The Morley Plan, which the committee recommends members reject, was based on the building of two 10-storey apartments (containing 97 residential plots) either side of a new Nursery Pavilion which would have been leased to MCC. Those who responded to the survey were strongly opposed to the Morley Plan, fearing it would remove Lord’s unique character.

In an address to members, MCC chairman Gerald Corbett wrote: “This decision by the MCC committee provides clarity on the extremely important and often controversial subject of ground development.”

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