The A-Z of MCC cricket in 2008
Date released: 9 April 2008
The 2008 English cricket season begins at Lord’s with the MCC v County Champion match. MCC is pleased to bring you a comprehensive A – Z guide of its cricket activities this season:
A is for Arundel: the venue for MCC’s fixture against the New Zealanders on Sunday 27th April.
B is for Balls: MCC will provide 1,000 new cricket balls to all its opposition this season, be it an international, first-class, amateur Club or School side. This is an investment of £10,000 on balls alone.
C is for Cowdrey Lecture: Inspired by the late Colin Cowdrey, the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture has become an important part in the cricketing calendar, allowing as it does a platform to discuss the issues surrounding the game today.
Previous speakers have included Richie Benaud, Sunil Gavaskar and Christopher Martin-Jenkins.
D is for Dressing Rooms: the only place to see the full honours boards at Lord’s. The Home Dressing Room is Number 1 within the famous Pavilion, while the Visitors will use Dressing Room 5.
- More about the Honours Boards and how you can see them on an Official Tour of Lord's
Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart wearing their MCC ties
E is for Egg and Bacon: the affectionate name given to MCC Member’s ties.
MCC has 2,500 Playing Members who will turn out for the Club in fixtures in the UK and abroad, making it the biggest cricket-playing Club in the world.
F is for the Factory: The Cricket Factory, which will visit Lord’s and other selected venues throughout the season. Designed to introduce the game to children, Cricket Factory offers a variety of zones where young cricketers can practice their batting, bowling and fielding skills. In any one day at Lord’s, around 400 Under 18s will have a fun and hands-on cricket experience at the Factory.
G is for Ground: Between April and September, Mick Hunt and his Groundstaff team will travel approximately 2,000 miles on mowers while cutting the outfield, which is famed for its fast drainage. If Mick set out on his mower today, he could reach the pyramids in Egypt by the end of the season. In addition, the Groundstaff will spend 400 hours rolling the 18 pitches that are used at the Home of Cricket.
An image from Hawk-Eye analysis H is for Hawk-Eye: The Performance Analysis Suite in the MCC Indoor Cricket School is home to the only 24 hour, 7 day live Hawk-Eye environment in the world. It is also the only cricket school where it can be hired out as a coaching tool.
So far, over 650 cricketers, aged from 8 to 65, have bowled over 5000 deliveries in the nets under the Hawk-Eye system. Users have come from international, county, club and schools teams from areas local to Lord’s to far-flung destinations across the globe.
I is for Imperial College London: are assisting MCC with a number of research projects. A PhD student has been retained by the Club to investigate balls (white ones keeping their colour), bats, illegal bowling actions and glued pitches. Scientists from Royal Holloway and York University are also doing research for MCC into bad light.
J is for June: the busiest month in the MCC out-match calendar. The busiest day of the busiest month is the 25th June, when 17 MCC matches will take place throughout the UK. Two of these fixtures are the Durham University CC three-day match at the Racecourse Ground and a one-day match against the North Yorkshire Schools’ CA.
K is for Kids 4 Free: the incentive scheme run jointly by MCC and Middlesex CCC in August to encourage Under 16s to visit Lord’s. During Middlesex match days in August, there is free entry to all children, in addition to a range of coaching and tours activities offered to participants.
L is for Laws: On 7th May, a Special General Meeting of the MCC Membership will convene to discuss and potentially approve the proposed change to Law 6 (The bat). The implementation of this Law will maintain the traditional balance of bat and ball within the cricket world.
M is for MCC v Champion County: Opening the 2008 English domestic season, MCC’s team – selected in conjunction with the England & Wales Cricket Board – is full of cricketers knocking on the door of the full England Test team. It promises to be an exciting – if cold – match to welcome in the season.
N is for Nets: By the end of the Easter School Holidays, the MCC Indoor Cricket School would have conducted 20 two-day courses for children ranging from 8 to 18 year olds. This year, 536 kids would have benefited from these training courses.
O is for Oakham School: the venue for finals week of the MCC Spirit of Cricket National Under 13 Championships.
The pink ball and the Pavilion at Lord's In a tournament organised by the England & Wales Cricket Board, over 1,700 teams from all over the UK will enter the competition to lift the Ken Barrington Cup at Oakham School. Bath Cricket Club are the reigning champions.
P is for Pink Ball: which will be trialled on the main Ground at Lord’s for the very first time on Monday 21st April with the MCC v Scotland fixture. MCC are researching into whether the pink ball is a viable alternative to the white ball for use on one-day cricket.
Q is for Quick Singles: of which there are plenty in the MCC Indoor School. The growth of indoor cricket for corporate teams in London has been very strong this winter with both 6-a-side and 8-a-side matches being very popular. Games are fast-paced and action-packed; ideal for client entertainment or junior school competitions.
R is for Runs: and there’ll be lots of them too. MCC teams will score around 100,000 runs in the 2008 season and will take approximately 4,000 wickets.
S is for MCC Spirit of Cricket: As Guardian of the Laws of Cricket, and upholder of its Spirit, MCC is involved in a range of activities to promote the campaign. Most recently, the Indian Premier League agreed to sign an MCC Spirit of Cricket Declaration at the outset of their inaugural tournament.
T is for Tonnes: Each of the three newly-installed, state-of-the-art scoreboards/replay screens at Lord’s weighs approximately eight tonnes. These LED screens are situated above the Compton, Edrich and Allen Stands and will record every score of every player and team throughout the 2008 season. Some players will have the misfortune to see their dismissals repeated on the video replay system. The new scoreboards will use one-third of the power of their predecessors.
U is for MCC Universities: The six MCC University Centres of Excellence (UCCEs) will each play three fixtures against first-class counties this season, in addition to competing against one another for the MCC Universities Championship.
The Club invests over £600,000 annually into the UCCE programme, which recently included sending a combined MCC Universities touring team to South Africa. The UCCEs exist to provide an opportunity for young cricketers to progress into the professional game while continuing to pursue an academic career.
V is for Volunteer Commentators: For the third consecutive season, MCC’s team of volunteer commentators will bring live ball-by-ball coverage to blind and partially-sighted spectators at Lord’s. Headsets can be picked up by speaking to any of the Lord’s Stewards. In addition, where radio rights allow, these commentaries will be made available to listen via the Lord’s website.
W is for World Cricket Committee: MCC’s independent voice on global cricket, who will meet at Lord’s in May to discuss matters such as technology and the potential effect of the Indian Premier League on International Cricket.
World Cricket Committee Member, Rahul Dravid The committee is comprised of some of the world’s greatest current and former cricketers, including Steve Waugh, Courtney Walsh, Barry Richards, Majid Khan and Rahul Dravid.
X is for Cross Arrows: The Cross Arrows Cricket Club, comprised of MCC Members and Staff, plays a range of opponents on the Nursery Ground to close the season. The last fixture at Lord’s will take place on 1st October.
Y is for Young Cricketers: MCC’s Young Cricketers will once again compete in the Second Eleven Championship. Head Coach, Clive Radley MBE, will continue to oversee the squad. Thirty percent of all Young Cricketers will go on to sign a professional contract with a first-class county.
Z is for Zanzibar: one of MCC’s overseas destinations last year. In 2008, MCC teams will visit, or have already visited Argentina, Uganda, St Kitts and Nevis, Germany, Denmark, Fiji and Samoa and India.
MCC v Champion County
Tickets
Adults: £14
Over 65s: £7
Under 16s: Free
Tickets will be available on a daily basis and may be purchased from the North or Grace Gates. Gates open at 10am for an 11am start.
