MCC consults members over the future of Lord's

Lord's under lights for the first time earlier this month © Getty Images

The MCC is about to conduct the biggest survey in its 220-year history.

Questionnaires will be sent to the club's 22,000 members to survey them on their thoughts about the way Lord's should be developed in the coming years. As well as conducting this survey, the MCC is convening a series of six special meetings to enable members to put questions and comments to a panel of senior officials. These meetings will take place between October 8 and 18 at venues from Bristol to Leeds.

Among the plans proposed by the club's masterplan working party are:

The proposals state that there should be no reduction in the size of the main and Nursey grounds and that the picnic areas, which are so much a feature of Lord's, should not be reduced either.

David Batts: 'Members need to play a key part' © MCC

Addressing fears that an expansion of the capacity would turn Lord's into a soulless stadium, the working party emphasised the importance of appointing architects who can demonstrate a real appreciation of the heritage of the ground.

An MCC spokesman said he expected all future work to be funded by a combination of debenture income, borrowing and some residential development on the ground's edges.

"This is the biggest-ever consultation process in MCC's long and distinguished history," David Batts, currently MCC's deputy chief executive, said. "Its scale reflects the importance that we attach to developing the best possible masterplan for the long-term future of Lord's. MCC's members need to play a key part in that process; after all, it's their club and their ground."