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The Marylebone Cricket Club is selling pieces of Lord’s cricket ground turf to raise funds for the MCC Foundation and improve facilities.
Harry Brook offering a hand to Mohammed Siraj at Lord’s. (AP Photo)
The Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns and runs the Lord’s cricket ground, is selling pieces of the hallowed ground’s turf to its members and the general public to raise money. The MCC contacted its members on Wednesday (August 6) morning, offering 1.2 x 0.6 metres chunks of turf for £50 or around Rs 5000.
The offer is not exclusive to the club’s 25,000-strong members. It’ll also be open to the general public. Ten percent of the proceeds will go to the MCC foundation, and the rest will be used to improve cricket facilities at the ground.
“To raise funds for the MCC Foundation, and to aid future development of the cricket field, we are offering all Members the chance to own a piece of Lord’s turf, a part of the stage on which so many magical moments have taken place,” read the message.
Lord’s is undergoing a major change this year, with the grass around the pitch set to be relaid in September, with help from an army of volunteers, who will join the Lord’s groundstaff.
The outfield will be dug up, the top 15mm of turf will be stripped off, and then fresh seed laid to grow a fresh surface. Concerns have been raised recently about the outfield quality at the iconic stadium, with players’ bodies getting stuck in during matches. The last time Lord’s underwent the necessary procedure was in 2002.
The Lord’s square is under the control of head groundsman Karl McDermott.
“My predecessor Mick Hunt always had a pitch up his sleeve that he could re-lay and not have any cricket on [for three years],” McDermott told Telegraph Sport last month. “But we don’t have that luxury now, because of the rise in cricket: The Hundred, there’s more women’s cricket, which is fantastic, but nothing has given way.”
Director of cricket operations Rob Lynch has also been exploring using a drop-in pitch to replace a strip in the coming years.
The ground has seen some of the most iconic matches in recent years, including the narrow finish in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy where an injured Shoaib Bashir got India’s number 11, Mohammed Siraj, out in dramatic fashion, with the ball rolling around the ground to kiss off the bails.
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
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