Cricket history up for grabs

If you thought owning a part of the Marylebone Cricket Club’s (MCC) history was beyond you, well, think again. Or better still, be at Christies, in South Kensington, London on November 17. Going under the hammer will be valuable memorabilia from the MCC, a selection of cricket bibliography comprising poems, score-books and cricket publications. The 100 available lots are estimated to be each worth between 500-40,000 pounds, with the MCC hoping to raise more than 300,000 pounds. The lots on offer are duplicates of the original collection and the proceeds will be used by the MCC to sustain and care for core antiquities and acquire more cricket-related trivia. The centrepiece of the sale will be a reproduction of a portrait of "The Young Cricketer - Portrait of Lewis Cage" by artist Katharine Lloyd, which has hung in the pavilion at Lord’s for the past 60 years. Other highlights include a complete set of Wisden’s almanack which has been in print since 1864.