Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club
Team information
Founded1787; 237 years ago (1787)
Home groundLord's Cricket Ground
Official websitelords.org/mcc

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London.[1] The club, formerly the governing body of cricket, retains considerable global influence.

In 1788, the MCC took responsibility for the laws of cricket, issuing a revised version that year. Changes to these Laws are now determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), but the copyright is still owned by MCC.[2] When the ICC was established in 1909, it was administered by the secretary of the MCC, and the president of MCC automatically assumed the chairmanship of ICC until 1989.[3][4]

For much of the 20th century, commencing with the 1903–04 tour of Australia and ending with the 1976–77 tour of India, MCC organised international tours on behalf of the England cricket team for playing Test matches. On these tours, the England team played under the auspices of MCC in non-international matches. In 1993, its administrative and governance functions were transferred to the ICC and the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB).

MCC teams are essentially ad hoc because they have never taken part in any formal competition but have always held first-class status when playing against first-class opposition.

The current president of the club is Mark Nicholas, the former Hampshire captain, who succeeded Stephen Fry on 1 October 2023.[5]

  1. ^ Pandita, Nirtika (5 August 2022). "The oldest Cricket Clubs in the world | The pride of sport and the spirit are still alive". www.buzztribe.news. Buzztribe News. Archived from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Laws of Cricket". MCC. 2016. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  3. ^ "1989 – present". History. International Cricket Council. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  4. ^ "International Cricket Council". Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Mark Nicholas: Cricket broadcaster and ex-Hampshire captain to succeed Stephen Fry as MCC president". BBC Sport. 3 May 2023. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.