MCC’s fear of Spidercam

MCC members, who don’t need much encouragement to make a fuss, have been complaining in numbers about Sky’s obtrusive Spidercam camera that runs the length of the pitch and obstructs their view from the upper tiers of the pavilion.

The players have also shown their frustration with the gizmo being used for the first time at Lord’s. Both Alastair Cook and Joe root have waved away the machine for getting too close at the wrong time and ruining their concentration.

An MCC spokesman said it was a tremendous innovation and people will have to get used to it.

Meanwhile, David Gower, Michael Vaughan and Clive Lloyd are three distinguished MCC members who are strongly supporting the residential property development at Lord’s.

But the majority of the 4,000 or so members who responded to a survey are expected to come out in favour of MCC rejecting the £100million from rifkind Associates to build two towers at the nursery End. lENGLAND’S

shortlist of potential training bases at the 2018 World Cup now includes two options at Black Sea resorts in southern Russia. They are at Sochi, which hosted last year’s Winter Olympics and Gelendzhik, another coastal town 150 miles to the north west which also has an airport. SKY SPorTS are launching a new look today, with dedicated channels for Premier League football, general football, cricket, golf and Formula one. But it is still up in the air whether Sky have secured rights to the US PGA, the final golf major of the season.

The promotion of Sky’s new golf channel has been very careful not to trumpet that they will be showing all four majors. racing will be the next sport to get its own channel with Attheraces rebranding to Sky racing sooner rather than later.