Committees

Ed Smith

President

Elected to MCC membership 2025

Ed Smith is an author, academic and former professional cricketer. He has published five books, including What Sport Tells Us About Life (Penguin) and Making Decisions (HarperCollins). He is Director and Co-Founder of the Institute of Sports Humanities, which educates leaders in sport.

He is a Contributing Writer for the New Statesman magazine, having previously been a lead writer for The Times.

As a cricketer, Smith played for Cambridge University, Kent, Middlesex and England from 1996 to 2008. He was Chief Selector for England cricket from 2018 to 2021, a period of unprecedented success, including England men's first 50-over World Cup win in 2019. He has also worked in professional football, using AI tools in high performance strategy.

His one-year term as President commenced on 1 October 2025, following his nominator for the role by the outgoing President, Lord King of Lothbury at the 2025 AGM.

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.

Rob Lawson

Chief Executive & Secretary

Elected to MCC membership 2025

Rob has a wealth of leadership and commercial expertise from a 34-year career in the energy sector, having held senior executive roles at BP and Mercuria Energy Group.

Rob began his career at BP in 1990. He held a variety of roles across Europe and Latin America, ultimately serving as Global Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, overseeing transactions in excess of $100bn. He also led large-scale organisational and cultural change as Programme Director.

In 2022, Rob moved to Geneva to join Mercuria as Executive Vice President, where he was responsible for a diverse portfolio of traditional and renewable energy assets. He remains a Non-Executive Director at Serica Energy Plc 

A lifelong cricket enthusiast, he is still a recreational player and actively supports the Alsama Project, which uses cricket to empower young refugees in Lebanon.

In addition, Rob serves as an Honorary Visiting Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School and as the Senior Independent Director at the British American Football Association. He was appointed Chief Executive & Secretary of MCC in 2025.

Chris Rogers

Appointed to NOMCO 2023

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. He was appointed to the Nominations committee by the MCC Committee in 2023.

Eoin Morgan, CBE

Chair of Cricket

Elected to MCC membership 2023

Eoin Morgan is a former Middlesex, London Spirit, Ireland and England player (2003-23). He is currently part of the Sky Sports Cricket commentary team.

He remains the only male cricketer to have captained England to victory (in 2019) in the 50-over World Cup and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2020 in recognition of his services to cricket.

He is a London Spirit Board Director, having been nominated by MCC for the role. He served on MCC's World Cricket committee from 2023 to 2024.

Eoin's appointment as Chair of Cricket (including a position on the MCC Committee) for a three-year term commencing on 1 October 2025 was approved by Members at the 2025 AGM.

Richard Baldwin

Chair of Estates

Elected to MCC membership 2002

Richard Baldwin is a Chartered Surveyor with over 40 years of experience in the London construction market. Over the course of his career, he has been responsible for the successful delivery of numerous high-profile projects. He currently serves as Director of Development at Derwent London.

He joined MCC's Estates committee in 2018. He has also served as a trustee of the Architectural Association Foundation and The Theatres Trust, and currently acts as a special advisor to the Royal Academy of Arts.

His appointment as Chair of Estates (including a position on the MCC Committee) for a three-year term commencing on 1 October 2025 was approved by Members at the 2025 AGM.

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

Vicky Griffiths

Chair of Membership

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 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.

Julian Metherell

Appointed member

Elected to MCC membership 1986

Julian Metherell has been a partner at MW&L Capital Partners since 2015. Prior to this, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where he served as Chief Executive Officer of the UK Banking Division from 2006 to 2011.

He chaired the Professional Cricketers' Association from 2019 to 2024.

Julian chairs London Spirit's Board of Directors, having been nominated by MCC for the role. Earlier, he had successfully led MCC's negotiating team during ECB's sales process to identify an investment partner for a 49% stake in the London Spirit franchise in The Hundred.

His appointment to the MCC Committee for a three-year term commencing on 1 October 2025 was approved by Members at the 2025 AGM.

Andrew Lowenthal

Chair

Elected to MCC Membership 1993

Andrew Lowenthal is an advisor at Manchester Square Partners on leadership, career management and board effectiveness. He was a partner at executive search firm Egon Zehnder from 1989-2013. Before joining Egon Zehnder, he was a banker with J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse First Boston. Andrew is a current board member and former Chair of the Queen’s Club and is a Trustee of the charity Greenhouse Sports. He has been President of the INSEAD Alumni Association in the UK.

He was previously a member of the Tennis and Squash sub-committee.

Simon Dyson

Elected to Nomco 2024

Elected to MCC membership 1969

Simon Dyson had a 37-year career at IBM, including four years as Director of Personnel during a major restructure. In this role he developed a strong foundation in implementing good governance procedures.

Since his retirement in 2005, Simon has held leadership roles in cricket organisations such as Club Cricket Conference, Chance to Shine, and Surrey Cricket Foundation, where he focused on modernising governance structures. Simon currently serves as a senior Trustee at Royal Wimbledon Golf Club and also sits on their Nominations Committee.

Having been a Playing Member (including on MCC Tours to Bangladesh and East Africa), Simon has also previously served on the MCC Committee, Membership and General Purposes committee, Golf Society sub-committee (including as Chair) and Youth Cricket sub-committee.

Tom Simpson

Elected to NOMCO 2025

Elected to MCC Membership 2000

Tom Simpson is a regulatory lawyer with over 25 years' experience, having practised law since 1999. He is currently Senior Legal Counsel at Google, where he has worked for more than 13 years, having previously worked at 19 Entertainment (representing the England Football Team, David and Victoria Beckham, Andy Murray and the Spice Girls).

Tom is a Trustee and Chair of the HR & Safeguarding Committee at the Young Camden Foundation, a youth infrastructure charity, which has been supporting the borough's children and youth voluntary and community Sector since 2017. He previously served as a board member of the David Beckham Academy.

Tom has captained the Middlesex Young Cricketers, Eton College, Brondesbury CC and the Middlesex County Cricket League and is a Playing Member of the Club.

Amanda Pearce Higgins

Elected to NOMCO 2024

Elected to MCC Membership 2003

Amanda Pearce Higgins is a Chartered Accountant and was a Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers specialising in Internal Audit and Risk Management. She has extensive non-executive experience with a number of roles in the sport and physical activity sector.

Amanda was elected an independent member of the Nominations committee in 2021.

Amanda is an Oxford Cricket Blue, and joined the Club as a Playing Member. 

James Kendall

Elected to NOMCO 2021

Elected to MCC Membership 1993

James Kendall is Director of Football Development at The Football Association, responsible for the grassroots game in England, and a member of The FA’s Senior Management Team. He is also Chair of the National Football Trust, part of the Football Foundation.  James’s career has been in the sports industry working in senior commercial, strategy and consulting roles for organisations including Portas Consulting, Harlequin FC, Volvo and Sky. 

He has been a Playing Member of MCC for nearly 30 years and was elected an independent member of the Nominations committee in 2021. He has previously served on the Membership and General Purposes committee.

Chris Rogers

Appointed to Nomco 2023

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. He was appointed to the Nominations committee by the MCC Committee in 2023.

Cora McCallum

Appointed to NOMCO 2023

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.