Free admission to the 2003 Varsity Matches - Lord's, Wednesday 2nd July

MCC is pleased to announce that there will be free admission to the men's and women's Varsity cricket matches at Lord's on Wednesday 2nd July.

MCC President, Sir Tim Rice, said:

"Following last year's successful trial, we want to give everyone another opportunity to enjoy, free, some high quality cricket at Lord's. The Varsity match is one of the game's most famous fixtures. It has given many excellent players - from Mike Atherton to 'Plum' Warner - their first opportunity to shine on the public stage. I hope that a large crowd will come to the home of cricket to see some stars of the future - in both the men's and the women's matches".

Last year's fixtures produced some outstanding cricket. A real highlight was the spectacular finish in the women's game, with Cambridge winning a thrilling contest by 1 wicket.

This year, on 2nd July, the women's match will again be staged on the Nursery Ground, while the men's match will be played, as usual, on the main ground at Lord's.

Singer & Friedlander Investment Management will be sponsoring both matches for the second successive year.

Past Varsity matches have helped to bring many future Test stars to public prominence - including Oxford's Colin Cowdrey (England), Martin Donnelly (New Zealand) and Imran Khan (Pakistan), and Cambridge's Mike Brearley (England), Majid Khan (Pakistan) and Peter May (England).

Sir Tim Rice added:

"Last month, MCC welcomed almost 9,500 schoolchildren, free, to the England v Zimbabwe Test at Lord's.

Over the last two days, we have been delighted to stage the Capital Kids Cricket Festival at the ground - to the delight of the 200 schoolchildren who have taken part.

We want to maintain this momentum. In a fortnight's time, we look forward to welcoming the largest possible number of people - including countless children - to Lord's, for one of the most historic fixtures in world cricket.

This reflects MCC's determination to increase the number of young people who are introduced to cricket - for the long-term good of the game".