Lord's in winter: John Stephenson

Date released: 10 December 2009

Lord's in winter: Head of Cricket, John Stephenson What happens at Lord's during the close season?

In part three (of three) of our interview with MCC Head of Cricket John Stephenson, he covers topics from the MCC v Champion County being moved to Abu Dhabi to issues closer to home such as the Vision for Lord's.

Abu Dhabi - good opportunity

Stephenson is visibly energised by the topic of Abu Dhabi. As a strong advocate of the pink cricket ball the prospect of a top-quality first-class match in which he could test it, under lights, is an exciting one.

He's also cautious not just about the deal itself but of the impact moving the match may have. The traditional curtain-raiser to the season moved away from the Home of Cricket?

The Zayed International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi "This whole thing happened because I received an email from Alan Fordham [ECB's Head of Cricket Operations] requesting the fixture to be put even earlier in the season than it was.

"Originally it was ridiculously early anyway - from the 6th to the 8th of April. I received the email when I was in Abu Dhabi asking for it to start on the 3rd of April.

"In my opinion that’s too early to have cricket at Lord’s. It’s not good for anyone. I might be proved wrong, it might be beautiful weather but I think it’s a gamble. It’s a symptom of the game, the way the schedule’s being squeezed.

"I got that email and we discussed it in-house, whilst we were in Abu Dhabi. It ticked all the boxes for us: Continuing the fixture, instead of totally abandoning it - I think the 3rd of April's too early; it’s good for research; it’s good for the profile of MCC, in my opinion.

"It’s unfortunate it won't happen at Lord’s but it might well happen at Lord’s in 2011."

Floodlights

Stephenson's also head of MCC's Estates department, responsible for everything from the pitches to the buildings so was heavily involved in the installation of retractable, telescopic floodlights at Lord's.

"In terms of the floodlights we were very pleased to get a five year permission for them and last year, on the whole, they went down extremely well.

"We’re now looking to put in an application to vary the conditions on the floodlights a little bit and we’re working hard on that.

"The reason being that we need a distinction between day time and night time usage. Now the lights are up, the temptation is to use them in the event of bad light for Tests.

"We have three Test matches next year and one [daytime] one day international. That’s potentially 16 days where they’ll ask us to extend the masts and put the lights on.

"Our conditions don’t allow for that: we can only use them on 12 occasions.

"What we’re trying to persuade the council is that there’s virtually zero impact on the local community if we put the lights on during the day - to a certain cut off point. There is a visual impact because you have to extend the masts - accepted.

An umpire & a light-meter: enough to make Stephenson sweat! "It was all a bit of learning curve last year. We had managed to set up a protocol for the lights but in reality what happened was the umpires, when they were out there, if they even sniffed a hint of bad light they would tell the match referee.

"The match referee would ask me to extend the light masts, if they weren’t already extended, and then he’d say ‘Right turn them on.’

"Then they might be on for five or ten minutes and then the cloud would go over and then we’re in a difficult situation. That would count for one of our 12 days.

"We’re [also] working with the local residents as well, who I look after. We’re setting up a new group to consult with them.

Finally, as a former England international cricketer, does Stephenson get much time in between the laws; pink cricket balls; trips to Abu Dhabi etc. to pull on his whites?

Stephenson has tried out the pink cricket ball himself playing for MCC "I don’t do any cricket during the winter. I will play for the Club next season.

"The way I do it now is I don’t prepare - because if I have a net I stiffen up for two weeks. I’d rather just go straight into a game. I feel confident I can do it. I keep myself fit playing racquet ball, then I’ll go and play.

"The first game of the season’s always agony. After that I’m fine, I can go into a game. I don’t have nerves now, I don’t feel under pressure to perform, I can perform to a good enough level to get through. But after every game it’s two weeks of agony so I make sure I space my games out.

Ah - Stephenson's overall control of MCC's fixture list comes into a new light...

"Exactly, it’s very important!"

Lord's in winter

That concludes our interviews with John Stephenson. Next up in this series is, arguably, the most important man at Lord's: Mick Hunt, the Head Groundsman.

Keep an eye out for more 'Lord's in winter...' features later this month and into the New Year - building up to the new season.