MCC lost out on £30m due to COVID crisis but plans afoot for 2021

HUW TURBERVILL: Lord's missed out on hosting three international matches this summer but chief executive Guy Lavender is hopeful the ground can stage socially-distant crowds in 2021

• Lord's renovation taking shape as next phase beckons
• Village Cup final played in front of 20,000 fans

MCC have had mixed financial news this year as they count the cost of COVID-19, with chief executive Guy Lavender fearing that cricket is “in the foothills of its impact and not on the summit”.

Lord’s missed out on hosting Tests against West Indies and Pakistan and a one-day international against Australia because of the pandemic, and Lavender says this cost the world’s most-famous cricket club £30m. MCC did raise £22.9m from selling life memberships for up to £80,000 each this summer, however, plus £7.8m from membership fees.

“It’s been an incredibly difficult, busy and challenging year in many respects,” Lavender told The Cricketer. “In a way, it’s had all of the tough bits and none of the great bits, with the cricket the culmination of that.

“Financially we are about £30m down in income this year which is related to the delivery of cricket and major matches in particular. That’s an enormous financial challenge, particularly as we find ourselves in the middle of the largest construction programme that we have ever undertaken. So the challenge has been to solve the financial puzzle, weather the financial storm and make sure we don’t get the club into financial jeopardy, as well as remobilise and get cricket back on.

“The real concern is that we are in the foothills of the impact of Coronavirus and not on the summit and if you look at next year the prognosis around cricket will largely be dependent on what’s happening with COVID and social distancing and capacities of grounds. At the moment it is quite difficult to be really optimistic that we are going to be operating as normal next summer. That compounds the financial challenges.”

^{The Compton and Edrich stands are currently undergoing redevelopment}

The Masterplan for the ground is proceeding as planned, with The Cricketer given an exclusive look at how the new Edrich and Compton stands are proceeding. Work began on the £52m project at the nursery end just over a year ago. 

The Compton stand will have 6,000 seats and the Edrich 5,500, increasing the capacity of the ground by 2,600 to 31,100. They both have upper and lower tiers for spectators, with corporate facilities in the middle.

Based on 1m-plus social distancing rules as they stand, Lavender hopes at least 7,600 seats could be sold for next year’s major matches.

“That would be better than nothing,” Lavender said, “The ECB have done a remarkable job, as have the clubs with their pilot schemes, but it’s depressing having no spectators. We’d rather have 1,000 than none. We have to keep working to get cricket back on. There is a lot of time and opportunity to demonstrate that we can run safe grounds.

“Who knows where we will be in six months’ time. We are cautiously optimistic but it’s not going to be without its challenges.”

The next phase of building work is due to commence in October and includes the installation of a canopy roof and an elevated 50m walkway at the back which connects the two stands.

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