The Japan Times - MCC to 'consult' on scrapping Eton v Harrow, Oxford v Cambridge after backlash

In February this year, MCC, the owners of Lord's in northwest London, announced the fixtures between the elite fee-paying schools and England's two oldest universities would no longer be guaranteed to be staged at the 'Home of Cricket' from 2023 onwards.

Both matches have been played at Lord's since the 19th century.

That decision was met with a furious reaction from a hard core of the club's 23,000 members, who secured a Special General Meeting (SGM) in September with the aim of overturning the decision in a ballot.

Only hours before the vote was due to take place, however, MCC announced it had agreed to a cancellation request from those who had called for the SGM in "the best interests of the club".

MCC announced then it would launch a consultation process ahead of making a decision on the future of the fixtures at its 2023 annual general meeting on May 3.

As a result of the time needed, both fixtures will take place next season.

In a letter to the membership, MCC said Monday it will now conduct an online survey in January to canvas opinion, with the findings communicated to its members in February.

- 'Roadshows' -

It will also hold four "roadshows" across England, including two at Lord's, next month where members can "air your views". The other two are at Manchester's Old Trafford and Edgbaston in Birmingham.

In February, MCC chief executive Guy Lavender said one reason for the change was to reduce the amount of cricket played on the main ground because the club's "overwhelming priority" must be to produce high-quality pitches for county and international matches.

The other driving factor was to give a wider range of players, including youth and women's cricketers, the chance to play at Lord's.

Several MCC members lamented the abandonment of cherished traditions, with Henry Blofeld, the cricket commentator who played in both fixtures, as a schoolboy at Eton and a student at Cambridge, telling The Times: "I suppose the 'antis' will be cheering and old farts like me will be sad. It is inevitable with the way that society has moved."

MCC's critics have often portrayed the club as hopelessly reactionary and elitist, an image Lavender is desperate for it to shed.

But Lavender said in February: "This decision did not arise as a result of any 'anxiety to kowtow to the woke police' as recently reported in the media.

"I have no doubt that members wish to enable young people to play at Lord's based on their talent and success in reaching the finals of competitions."

Although several former England captains, including Colin Cowdrey and Mike Smith (Oxford) and Mike Brearley and Mike Atherton (Cambridge), have played in the Varsity match, the universities no longer have first-class cricket status.

Eton and Harrow have played each other at Lord's since 1805, with the poet George Byron taking part in the inaugural game.

T.Sato--JT