Lord’s relaxes dress code for Twenty20
MCC let in children to end over a century of tradition Grounds on tenterhooks as Test venues are selected
The MCC could break with more than a century of tradition by relaxing the Lord’s pavilion dress code as well as allowing children entry in a bid to shake off its stuffy image ahead of the new county Twenty20 competition.
Clubs will find out next month whether their bids to be a host venue for one of the eight teams in the tournament, which will start in 2020, have been successful.
The England and Wales Cricket Board is demanding that candidates prove they can attract a new audience to cricket, which, for the MCC, will mean throwing off its traditionally reserved image.
Bids have already been submitted by interested counties and each will make a presentation to ECB executives this week, outlining what they can offer.
The MCC will promise to make members’ areas open to the public, including allowing children into the pavilion, and abandoning dress codes.
The Lord’s dress code for men states: “Gentlemen shall wear lounge suits or tailored jacket and trousers, shirt, tie or cravat and shoes with socks.” Women must wear: “Dresses; or skirts or trousers (which may be cropped below the knee) or culottes, with blouses or smart tops, and formal shoes, boots or sandals.”
There are also plans for alcohol-free areas. The ECB is aiming to attract fam- ilies and does not want its new tournament to have a boozy image.
The MCC is also considering allowing musical instruments into the ground for the first time and offering cheap tickets in a residents’ ballot. Lord’s is surrounded by some of London’s most expensive property, but there are also areas of deprivation close by and it is to these that the club are hoping to reach out.
Members will be consulted next month, with Guy Lavender, the new chief executive, compiling a paper entitled “Fit for the Future”, which will outline how the Lord’s site can be better utilised in the future.
“We are going to look at how we operate the ground and make it open and accessible,” he said. “Part of that is looking at opening the pavilion and members’ areas [for the new competition]. We have all incomes in our community around the ground and we want to engage and get them in.”
This is a tense week for the Test grounds. Bids have also been submitted to host major international matches between 2020 and 2024, which are the lifeblood for most cash-strapped county clubs.
Presentations on those bids will also happen this week, and an announcement on both the allocation of matches and teams in the new tournament will take place on Feb 14.
The eight teams will be spread geographically, with Lord’s and the Oval certain to be named as host venues. Trent Bridge, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and Headingley are also expected to be awarded teams. There is a strong possibility that some grounds, such as Cardiff, Taunton and Bristol, will share hosting rights. For major matches the main focus will be on the host venues for the 2023 Ashes. The criteria for the awarding of matches this time around are the ability to sell tickets and excellence around safety and security.
Counties will no longer pay staging fees. Instead they pay a share of gate receipts to the ECB. The plum fixtures, such as Ashes Tests, will incur a 50 per cent share, with the board sliding down to 40 and 30 per cent for other fixtures.
Lord’s has again bid for two Tests per summer (one in Ashes summers, when Australia will be the only team playing Test cricket in England).
Lord’s, the Oval, Edgbaston and Old Trafford are the biggest grounds, so fit the criteria for selling tickets for Ashes Tests and maximising revenue for the board. The final match will be between Headingley, Trent Bridge and the Ageas Bowl.