Fry goes into bat for MCC after hitting cricket’s old guard for six
TV personality who once accused club of exuding a ‘mephitic stink’ says he is proud to become president
‘The old toxins in the system are so insidious many have not noticed them or refused to accept they are there’
STEPHEN FRY has been appointed president of the Marylebone Cricket Club, months after making an outspoken attack on the game’s traditionalists.
The comedian and writer ruffled feathers last November by directly telling the sport’s establishment that the game needed its “lead pipes and asbestos” ripped out.
As he looked back on his 50 years following the game, Fry used a speech to suggest the sport’s “very flame” was at risk of flickering and going out unless it radically modernises.
“The rise and mutation of one-day cricket caused panic from Windermere to Woking, as white balls and black sightscreens threatened the sanity of Telegraph readers everywhere,” Fry told the MCC’S Cowdrey Lecture.
Six months on, however, Fry, an MCC member since 2011, said he felt “humbled” to be appointed president of the club, which owns Lord’s and is the effective guardian of the game’s laws.
His role was confirmed by outgoing president Clare Connor, the former England women’s captain, at the club’s annual meeting.
“He has a deep love and care for cricket and will be a wonderful ambassador for MCC,” Connor said.
The announcement was met with surprise, however, by some of those who heard Fry’s speech last year when he became the first non-cricketer to be invited to deliver the MCC lecture since Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2008.
Earlier that day, Azeem Rafiq, the former Yorkshire spin bowler, had delivered damning evidence about racism, prompting Fry to accuse the club of exuding a “mephitic stink”.
“Until those lead pipes and that asbestos lagging are torn out, can the house of cricket stand proud?” he asked the audience.
Rafiq, he added, was owed “an enormous debt as well as an enormous apology”. Calling for reform in the game, he added: “Let’s dedicate ourselves to ensuring that that will never happen.”
During his November speech, Fry also said: “The old toxins in the system are so insidious that many haven’t noticed them or have even refused to accept they are there.
“I suspect most of us here never really did, until it was shown to us. But the poisons will continue their deadly work unless we have the courage to make deep structural changes that do more than prettify the exterior.”
Fry’s appointment comes after the MCC announced earlier this year that it was not “kowtowing to the woke police” after cancelling the centuriesold tradition of hosting annual matches between Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Guy Lavender, chief executive of the MCC, issued a statement on Tuesday saying the move was intended to “broaden the scope of the fixture list” and provide for a “wider range of players”. It emerged this week that members had forced the MCC to defend the decision to scrap the matches at a special meeting.
The Oxbridge match dates back to 1827, and the fixture between Eton and Harrow began in 1805.
More than 200 members have written to Mike Hall, a life member who initiated the motion, opposing the ending of the matches.
Among them, according to The Times, is the commentator Henry Blofeld, who played in both fixtures. Mr Hall wrote to Mr Lavender earlier this year calling on the cricket committee to “resign and hang their heads in shame”.
Fry, who takes up the post on Oct 1, said his appointment as president made him “honoured and proud”.
“It is a club that is known throughout the world for what it represents in the game and to be gifted the opportunity to perform this role is truly humbling,” he added. “I thank Clare for this incredible opportunity and I look forward to supporting her as president designate over the summer before commencing my own innings in the autumn.”
Fry has also been president of Mind, the mental health charity, for more than a decade. The annual meeting at Lord’s was the first to be held with members attending in person at the ground as well as online.
Connor said: “I am thrilled to be able to announce Stephen as my successor... the Cowdrey Lecture he delivered last year was inspiring and showed the extent to which he understands the challenges and opportunities that both MCC and cricket face. He will bring a wealth of experience to the role and I hope he thoroughly enjoys his year.”