Sounds of home for SA at Lord's

Date released: 4 July 2008

When Graeme Smith's South African team arrive at Lord's for the Test against England, they will hear a few familiar (and supportive) accents around 'The Home of Cricket'.

MCC's South African staff with the SA and MCC flags From preparing the pitch, to looking after the players in the dressing rooms and providing technical support to journalists in the Investec Media Centre, MCC has embraced the skills of its team of South African staff to make sure Lord's offers the best experience for players, spectators and journalists alike.

Lord's may be world famous; employing the best staff from around the world helps to make it world class.

The famous egg and bacon colours of MCC members in the Lord's pavilion may look quintessentially English, but the man responsible for ensuring the dress code is honoured arrived in London via Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The design team, who create the MCC and Lord's brands which are seen all over the world – from the Indian Premier League to summer cricket camps for primary school children – come from East London and Umhlanga Rocks (Durban).

Keith Bradshaw, Secretary & Chief Executive of MCC – who hails from Tasmania, Australia – explained the part South Africans had to play in MCC's quest to remain the best place in the world to play cricket: "Few experiences are more evocative of an English summer than the first day of the Lord's Test, but we want to remain the best at what we do not just in this country but worldwide.

"The South African players, fans and journalists who will descend on NW8 on 10 July will no doubt be pleased to know there are a few people holding out for an away win!

"But more importantly they know the service provided to them all over the ground – from the bars in the Indoor School and Tavern to the Membership office – will be truly world class."

Most intriguingly, the home dressing room attendant – the man who is responsible for looking after the England players, running errands for them and keeping the dressing room stocked with everything from embroidered personalised towels to drinks – came to England from Cape Town.

Diplomatically he is hoping for a draw – a South Africa win may make him unpopular with the England players!

In total nine South Africans work for MCC. Read more about their roles: