Wednesday 30 November 2011

MCC Set for Lord's Vote


Marylebone Cricket Club will vote on whether to go ahead with a multi-million-pound redevelopment of Lord's, which it owns, on Wednesday.

Three proposals have been submitted for a 'Vision for Lord's', although senior MCC committee members criticised original plans in 2009.

An artist's impression of one of the proposals shows four diamond-shaped towers of flats at the Nursery End.

However, architects claim the towers will not throw shadows over the ground.

The artist's impression of that proposal was published in the Times newspaper on Wednesday.

The latest plans are one of "a number of options" available to the MCC committee, including maintaining the status quo of the 'Home of Cricket'.

The 20-man committee will meet at 1530 GMT and a spokesman for MCC told BBC Sport that "a decision will be taken today".

Developers are expected to fund the cost of any redevelopment, which could cost £400m, although Lord's has spent £3m in fees since the idea was first mooted in 2008.

Any proposals agreed by the committee must then meet planning approval from Westminster Council and be voted for by two-thirds of MCC's 18,000-strong membership.

As well as owning Lord's, MCC remains the guardian of the laws and the spirit of cricket.

In 2009, chief executive Keith Bradshaw ruled out selling the naming rights to the historic ground to fund redevelopment.