Underwood takes over as MCC president

Derek Underwood, the former England spinner, will begin his one-year tenure as president of the MCC on Wednesday, taking over from Mike Brearley.

"It is indeed a great honour to become president of MCC, especially to have been invited by Mike Brearley, for whom I have always had the utmost respect and admiration. I look forward immensely to the year ahead," Underwood said.

"It is an exciting era for the sport with Twenty20 cricket opening up so many possibilities for the game worldwide. It is important for all those who work in cricket to embrace that change whilst protecting the game's rich heritage.

"MCC is ideally placed to be at the heart of much of this change. With its development of the masterplan project at Lord's, its independent voice of the MCC World Cricket committee and its playing remit to develop the game worldwide, the club has the passion, stature and desire to ensure the best for our wonderful game in the years ahead."

Joining the MCC committee for a three-year period will be John Barclay, for his third stint, Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, Peter Lever and, for the first time, Peter Carroll. David Faber, Matthew Fleming, Sir John Major and Nick Pocock are stepping down.

MCC, the lawmakers of the game, are also introducing Law 6 (the bat), which becomes official as of October 1. "MCC takes its role as guardian of the Laws and Spirit of Cricket extremely seriously," Keith Bradshaw, MCC's chief executive, said, "and by ensuring that bats are made in the traditional manner, we hope to safeguard the balance between bat and ball."

MCC members voted almost unanimously in favour of re-writing Law 6 to ensure handles are made primarily from wood, cane and twine. With a two-thirds majority needed to pass the change, 98.6% of members at a special general meeting in May were in favour of protecting the make-up of the bats.