MCC appoints 1st female president in 233-year history
No positive tests among England cricketers ahead of series
LONDON, June 25, (AP): Clare Connor, the former captain of England’s women’s team, will become the first female president in the 233-year history of the Marylebone Cricket Club from 2021.
The Lord’s-based club is regarded as the guardian of the laws of the game and Connor said being handed the prestigious role was a “wonderful privilege.”
“We often need to look back to see how far we’ve come,” said Connor, whose current position is managing director of women’s cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board.
“I made my first visit to Lord’s as a starry-eyed, cricket-obsessed 9-year-old girl at a time when women were not welcome in the Long Room. Times have changed.”
The decision to appoint Connor was confirmed at a virtual meeting on Wednesday and she will take up the post on Oct. 1, 2021.
Current MCC president Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been invited to remain in the role for a second 12-month tenure because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on cricket.
Sangakkara became the first nonBritish president of the MCC when he started the role in October last
year.
No England cricketers have tested positive for coronavirus in the past three weeks ahead of next month’s test series against the West Indies, the England and Wales Cricket Board said.
A total of 702 tests were conducted on England’s players, support staff, match officials, ECB staff and hotel staff from June 3-23 at two bio-secure venues - Manchester’s Old Trafford and Southampton’s Ageas Bowl.
All the tests returned negative results. Some people have been tested multiple times.
The total number of checks for COVID-19 does not include England fast bowler Jofra Archer’s second test, the result of which will be announced on Thursday.
A member of Archer’s household felt unwell over the weekend. Archer has already tested negative for the virus but had another check on Wednesday.
Because there were no positives, all players in England’s 30-man training group will have their first day of practice at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday. The group will split into two, with one training in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
An internal squad match will take place from July 1-3 before the squad is announced for the first test against the West Indies starting July 8.