MCC rethink on Lord’s

ONLY MCC members, who last year voted overwhelmingly to reject Rifkind Associates property development bankrolling of lord’s, could be changing their minds so quickly. A number have been to see Charles Rifkind’s building models of how his lord’s would look. There is support now for Rifkind to be allowed to display his plans at the annual meeting in May, ironically held at the nursery end above the tunnels owned by Rifkind Associates. MCC currently pay a peppercorn rent of £156,000 when the market price would be more than £2m a year.

LONDON’S pole-dancing gentlemen’s club Stringfellows caused some outrage yesterday by offering a VIP package (complimentary admission and drink) to those attending the Sports Pro Live conference at the ExCel Centre, tweeting: ‘Technology meets sports business and attendees meet beautiful women.’ A spokesman for the sports industry magazine Sports Pro said: ‘There is no way we would have anything to do with this offer, it’s ambush marketing.’