Jimmy Anderson, Greg James and Felix White will host an evening of cricket chat and discussion live from Lord's, bringing AN ENTERTAINING TWIST TO THE USUAL FORMAT.
MCC President Mark Nicholas will lead a live Q&A with other cricketing stars from the men's and women's game to be announced soon.
Taking place on Thursday 21 March 2024, the evening will welcome an audience of over 600 people from the MCC membership, as well as a variety of people including fans from across the game of cricket.
This is the first time the Cowdrey Lecture has featured more than one keynote speaker and is inspired by the recent ‘Tailenders Live’ series, which has enjoyed sellout shows across the country.
The MCC Cowdrey Lecture, often referred to as the “Spirit of Cricket Lecture”, has become an annual highlight in the cricketing calendar. It was created in memory of Colin Cowdrey (later Lord Cowdrey), the former England captain who is credited with co-authoring the Spirit of Cricket – an outline for fair play that was later added as the official Preamble to the Laws of Cricket.
Past lecturers have included Richie Benaud, Clive Lloyd, Imran Khan, Kumar Sangakkara, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Stephen Fry and Andrew Strauss.
The award-winning Tailenders is one of the most successful cricket podcasts and has had over 2.5million listens on BBC Sounds. Its stars have been presenting the show for six years:
- Jimmy Anderson's accolades are well-known, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers the game has ever seen. In an astonishing international career spanning over two decades, he has risen to become the leading fast-bowling Test wicket-taker of all time, with his tally currently sitting at 690 Test wickets.
- Greg James is an English radio and television broadcaster and author who rose to fame as a presenter on BBC Radio 1 since 2007, hosting shows including his old drive-time show and the station's flagship breakfast show. He is a keen cricket fan, used to play for Hertfordshire Under-18s and is an ambassador for the Lord's Taverners.
- Felix White is best known as the guitarist of British indie rock bands The Maccabees and 86TVs and has been part of Tailenders since it started in 2017. His bestselling memoir, titled ‘It’s Always Summer Somewhere’ and covering the subjects of cricket, music and loss, was published in 2022. He is also a film composer, most recently having scored the music for ‘McEnroe’ and ‘The Edge’.
"We’re really looking forward to creating a one-off event that is uniquely designed for the Cowdrey Lecture and entertains a wonderfully wide and varied audience"
MCC President Mark Nicholas said “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Jimmy, Greg and Felix on this new and exciting interpretation of the Cowdrey Lecture. The history of the Lecture and the stature of previous speakers speaks for itself. We hope this twist on the traditional format will appeal to a wide range of audiences and, most importantly, bring lovers of our wonderful game together to celebrate the shared passion we all have for cricket.”
Jimmy, Greg and Felix jointly commented: “We’re thrilled to be working with MCC for the 2024 MCC Cowdrey Lecture live from Lord’s. We’re really looking forward to creating a one-off event that is uniquely designed for the Cowdrey Lecture and entertains a wonderfully wide and varied audience.”
Cowdrey Lecture