MCC Committee

The Lord King of Lothbury

President

Elected to MCC membership 2003

Lord King of Lothbury is an economist who was Governor of the Bank of England for a decade between 2003 and 2013, following which he entered the House of Lords having been made a life peer. He was appointed as a Knight of the Garter by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2014.

He was President of Worcestershire CCC in 2015-16. He co-founded Chance to Shine in 2005, along with Mark Nicholas and the late Duncan Fearnley, to reinvigorate state school cricket and ensure that all children are given the opportunity to play the sport. The charity has gone on to make a huge impact on the lives of young people through cricket, with over 6 million children having taken part in their programmes. He was President of Worcestershire CCC in 2015-16

Away from finance and cricket, Lord King is Chair of the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Nominated by Mark Nicholas at the Club’s AGM on 1 May 2024, Lord King began his one-year term as President of MCC on 1 October 2024.

Mark Nicholas

Club Chair

Elected to MCC membership 1981

Mark Nicholas is a broadcaster and journalist. Twice named as Sports Presenter of the Year, he currently works with Supersport in South Africa. He moved into the media following a successful career in professional cricket, as a top-order batter and medium-pace bowler for Hampshire, captaining them to four major trophies and also captaining England A.

He is also co-founder of the charity Chance to Shine (CTS), with which he remains fully involved. He is looking forward to developing a closer relationship between CTS and the MCC Foundation.

Mark was appointed as MCC Club Chair in 2024, having served a one-year term as President in 2023-24. He has also served on the Club’s Cricket committee, Marketing and Laws, Spirit & Ethos as well as the Main Committee and was also a part of the small working party that formed the principle of the Spirit of Cricket.

Chris Rogers

Treasurer and Chair of Finance

Elected to MCC membership 1977

Chris Rogers is Chair of Wickes plc and sits on the boards of Kerry Group and Sanderson Design Group. He has played cricket throughout his life and continues to play today, turning out for Turville Park Cricket Club with its glorious views over the Chilterns.

After qualifying as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse he had a long career in the retail and leisure industries. His last executive role was on the Board of Whitbread plc where he served as Chief Financial Officer for seven years before becoming Global Managing Director of Costa Coffee.

Chris was appointed as the Club’s Treasurer in 2023 and chairs its Finance committee, which he joined in 2015.

Guy Lavender

Chief Executive & Secretary

Guy Lavender was appointed as the Chief Executive & Secretary of MCC in 2017.

Guy was commissioned into the British Army in 1988 and completed an 18-year career in the Parachute Regiment, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2006.  On leaving the Armed Forces he was appointed as the London 2012 Director for the South West of England with responsibilities for the sailing venue at Weymouth and Portland.

Following this, Guy was the Managing Director of Wave Hub, a £42m renewable energy project in Cornwall before returning to sport in his capacity as the Chief Executive of Somerset County Cricket Club, where he enjoyed a six-year tenure. 

Following changes to MCC’s governance structure, Guy became a member of the MCC Committee in 2021.

Claire Taylor, M.B.E.

Chair of Cricket

Elected to MCC membership 2003

Claire Taylor is a management consultant. In her career as an international cricketer, she achieved 168 England caps and was one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year in 2009 (the first woman to be so named).

Claire was appointed as Chair of Cricket in 2019, having previously sat on the Cricket committee as Chair of the Women’s Cricket sub-committee from 2012-18. She also served for one year on the MCC Committee in 2018.

Jim Johnston

Chair of Estates

Elected to MCC membership 1997

Jim Johnston is a chartered surveyor. He spent much of his 35-year career in the development, management and ownership of large-scale, mixed-use business parks throughout the UK. He is currently a consultant and independent investment committee member to real estate and other businesses.

Jim was appointed as Chair of Estates in 2019, having been a member of the Estates committee since 2016. He was also Chair of the Project Steering Group which oversaw the successful construction of the Compton and Edrich stands.

Emma John

Chair of Heritage & Collections

Elected to MCC membership 2015

Emma John is an author and journalist whose cricket-writing career spans 25 years and was the first woman in the UK to win a Sports Journalism Award. Alongside editing roles at Wisden Cricket Monthly, Observer Sport Monthly and the Observer Magazine, she has covered major sporting tournaments including the Olympics, Ashes, Wimbledon, and Rugby and Cricket World Cups, and authored three nationally-acclaimed books. Creator and host of The Guardian’s cricket podcast The Spin, Emma is also a regular voice on national radio, and recent recognition includes the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award in 2023 and Freelance Sports Writer of the Year in 2022.

Emma was appointed as Chair of Heritage & Collections in 2024, having been a member of the Heritage & Collections committee since 2020.

Kumar Sangakkara

Chair of World Cricket

Elected to MCC membership 2012

Kumar Sangakkara is a cricket coach, commentator and businessman. He is the current Director of Cricket of the Rajasthan Royals and the Head Coach of their IPL team.

In his career as an international cricketer, he played 134 Tests, 404 ODIs and 56 T20Is for Sri Lanka, captaining his country 81 times. In 2012, he was named ICC Cricketer of the Year as well as receiving the double-accolade of being named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year and their Leading Cricketer of the Year (receiving the latter award again in 2015).

Kumar was appointed Chair of World Cricket in 2023, having first joined that committee in 2012. He was appointed to represent the World Cricket committee on the MCC Committee in 2022 and was President of the Club from 2019-21.

Vicky Griffiths

Chair of Membership and General Purposes

Elected to MCC membership 2002

Vicky Griffiths is a partner in an executive search firm and has had a successful business career as a strategy consultant and in financial services. She has wide-ranging non-executive experience both in the not-for-profit sector, including for the British Olympic Foundation, as well as in education and financial services. She is an accomplished cricketer (including for MCC) and a former international hockey player. 

Vicky was appointed Chair of Membership and General Purposes in 2022, having previously served on the MCC Committee from 2013-16 and from 2019-2022, as well as on the Finance committee from 2010-22.

Arfan Akram

Appointed member

Elected to MCC membership 2008

Arfan Akram began his cricketing association with the Club as a 13-year-old, winning the MCC under-13s winter player of the year. He is currently East London Operations Manager at Essex CCC and previously worked at ECB, ICC and MCC. He is on the MCC’s Elite Players List, has been on three overseas tours (one as captain) and has played over 100 games for the Club. He has also been a volunteer head coach of an MCC Schools team. 

Arfan was appointed to the MCC Committee in 2022 having served on the Players & Fixtures sub-committee from 2013-16.

Cora McCallum

Appointed member

Elected to MCC membership 2016

Cora McCallum is currently Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at a major healthcare company, having spent over 20 years in the City as an Equity Research analyst. As well as playing cricket for MCC, she enjoys participating in a variety of sports and has completed three London Marathons and two London Triathlons.

Cora was appointed to the MCC Committee in 2022, having served on the Finance committee since 2020 and the Membership and General Purposes committee from 2017-20.

Michael McLintock

Appointed member

Elected to MCC membership 1983

Michael McLintock is chair of both Associated British Foods plc and Grosvenor Group and is a trustee of the Grosvenor Estate. He is also chair of The Investor Forum and a member of the Takeover Appeal Board. He had a long and successful career in the City, spending 19 years as CEO of M&G and 16 years as a board member of Prudential plc.

Michael was appointed to the MCC Committee in 2022, having served on the Finance committee from 2005-18 and the Development committee from 2009-11.

David Faber

Trustee

Elected to MCC membership 1981

David Faber was appointed as a Trustee in 2023. He has been Headmaster at Summer Fields School in Oxford since 2010. He was the Member of Parliament for Westbury from 1992-2001, before leaving politics to focus on a career as a writer and historian.

A Playing Member, David has toured with the Club including as manager of the tour to Canada in 2001. He began the first of his four terms on the MCC Committee in 1997 and has also served on the Marketing and Arts and Library (now Heritage & Collections) committees, chairing the latter from 2013-19.

Matthew Fleming

Trustee

Elected to MCC membership 2004

Matthew Fleming was appointed as a Trustee in 2019. He served on the MCC Committee from 2005-08 and from 2009-12. He served on the Cricket committee from 2006-19, chairing it between 2013 and 2019. He was President in 2016-17.

John Varley

Trustee

Elected to MCC membership 2011

John Varley was appointed as a Trustee in 2021. He served on the Finance committee from 2011-21. He was Group Chief Executive of Barclays Bank between 2004 and 2010. Since then, he has served as a non-executive director on the boards of AstraZeneca, Rio Tinto and BlackRock. He was chairman of Marie Curie Cancer Care, a Fellow of Eton College, and a trustee of the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation.