Eton v Harrow match to be replaced by T20 for all
The annual cricket match between Eton and Harrow that has been banished from Lord’s is to be replaced by the finals of boys’ and girls’ Twenty20 competitions open to all secondary schools.
Marylebone Cricket Club confirmed the news less than 24 hours after Britain’s two most famous public schools met at the home of cricket for what could be the last time. The decision to stop staging the 55-over match after more than two centuries has provoked an outcry from traditionalists, but MCC ruled that hosting the finals of boys’ and girls’ schools competitions would be more inclusive.
The MCC assistant secretary (cricket and operations), former Somerset and Tasmania batsman Jamie Cox, told The Times: “Lord’s is an aspirational ground – this is not a decision about excluding anyone, it’s about including everyone and about excellence and about opening up a competition to find out who is the best, and who has earned the right to come and play at Lord’s.
“I managed to play here three times for my county and I know the power of the road to Lord’s as an incentive, and that is what we want to offer to all schools.”
MCC confirmed in February that both the Eton v Harrow fixture and the Varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge would be banished from Lord’s after this year.
The contest between the two public schools is likely to relocate to the Wormsley Estate in Oxfordshire.
The first match between the schools took place in 1805, shortly before the Battle of Trafalgar, and featured poet Lord Byron.
Dramatist Sir Terence Rattigan, former prime minister Lord Home and cricket writer Henry Blofeld are among some of the other famous names to have taken part.
Old Etonian Blofeld lamented the decision, saying: “To play cricket implies honesty and loyalty and the committee should be the epitome of everything cricket stands for. I do feel for the first time that the club is not coming clean and is going behind my back. Dropping these
two fixtures has been done in an underhand way without consulting the members. There is a nasty taste to this.
“You can’t tell me the committee can’t find room in the fixture list for two student matches. To destroy a fixture going back to 1805 is bonkers and to give the reason as there not being enough room in the summer to play it is palpably untrue.
“Eton, Harrow, Oxford and Cambridge all played a huge part in the foundation of MCC and the club is something to be revered. The arrival through the post of my membership pass each spring has been one of life’s great thrills. But I’m not sure fair play does start at Lord’s now.”