Greig to give Cowdrey lecture

Tony Greig, the former England captain, will deliver the 12th MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lord's next year. Greig will become the second ex-England captain to deliver the lecture, after Geoffrey Boycott in 2005.

The Spirit of Cricket lecture began in 2001 and was named after the late Colin Cowdrey, the former England captain and a past MCC president, who, together with another former president Ted Dexter, were instrumental in including the spirit of cricket as the preamble to the Laws of the game.

Grieg played 58 Tests for England between 1972 and 1977 and was captain 14 times. He scored 3,599 runs at 40.43 and took 141 wickets at 32.20. Now 65, Greig is broadcaster for Channel Nine in Australia.

"Fiercely competitive on the field and hugely insightful off the field, Tony Greig has had a wonderful career in the game," said MCC president Philip Hodson. "Never one to shun the limelight or shy away from voicing his opinion, I am sure that his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture will be in keeping with the way he played the game.

"I very much look forward to welcoming him to Lord's to deliver one of the highlights in the MCC calendar, and listen to him tackle some of the key issues that currently surround the game."

This year Kumar Sangakkara gave a widely acclaimed Cowdrey lecture where he talked about controversial issues within Sri Lanka cricket and also about the importance of the sport in his country.