MCC tours Belize and Cayman Islands

Date released: 11 June 2003

An MCC squad left London today (Wednesday 11th June) to play and promote cricket in Belize and the Cayman Islands.

Travelling via Miami, the squad will arrive in Belize a day later. On Friday, it's a different Lord's from St John's Wood when the team has a practice and coaching session at Lord's Bank.

The first of two 50 over matches against Belize commences at 10am on Saturday 14th June, at Lord's Bank, followed by the second on Sunday 15th June at Belmopan City.

After travelling to the Cayman Islands on Monday 16th June, MCC will play, two days later, a 50 over match against the Cayman Islands U-19s at West Bay. On Thursday 19th June, the Smith Road Georgetown Ground plays host to MCC vs The President's XI in a 40 over game. Friday includes a coaching session and evening reception hosted by the Governor General at Government House.

West Bay is once again the venue on Saturday 21st June for an MCC v Cayman Islands Masters 40 over match. The final fixture of this tour is at Georgetown on Sunday 22nd June, a 50 over game in which MCC will face the Cayman Islands national team. The finale to the tour is the CICA awards directly after this match.

In common with other MCC tours, the trip has been planned in conjunction with the International Cricket Council with the twin aims of increasing international interest in cricket and enabling the host country to assess the extent of its recent cricketing progress.

Earlier in the year, other MCC touring teams played in countries as diverse as Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Nepal. Future tours include a visit to Luxembourg, later this month, by MCC's women team.

Commenting on Club's latest tour, MCC's Head of Cricket, Tony Dodemaide (see right, above), said: "MCC's touring programme shows the strength of its commitment to playing and promoting cricket worldwide".

MCC's first overseas tour took place almost a century ago - when a team, led by 'Plum' Warner, visited Australia in 1903-04.