Middlesex’s future at Lord’s is in doubt with the club failing to secure a long-term extension of a tenancy agreement with the MCC that expires this year. After months of talks with the ground’s owners, Middlesex are close to agreeing a 12-month contract that will ensure most of their matches are played at the home of cricket next summer, but the club’s long-term future is uncertain.
The county’s two previous leases with the MCC were for five years, with a 12-month deal raising eyebrows among staff at both clubs given the 13-time county champions have been tenants at Lord’s since 1864. A short-term agreement has been reached as an emergency measure, but there is concern on both sides that the arrangements may not suit either party, as has been reflected in the lengthy negotiations.
Middlesex have been troubled by a number of governance and financial problems in recent years, with senior figures at the MCC believed to have expressed concerns about the way the county are run. There is also understood to be tension between some of the senior figures at the clubs.
The ECB fined Middlesex £50,000 and gave them a suspended points deduction last September after finding them guilty of breaching financial regulations and in June the club were charged with improper conduct by the newly formed Cricket Regulator. A disciplinary hearing is understood to have taken place last month with Middlesex denying the charges.
“Every time Middlesex are in the newspapers there is a photograph of Lord’s, so there is a danger of reputational damage by association,” said an MCC source.
The Middlesex chief executive, Andrew Cornish, went public with his club’s concerns in April in an interview with the Sunday Times when he raised the prospect of moving to a new ground in north-west London, although he later clarified his comments saying it would not happen “any time soon”.
Middlesex’s financial position has improved since Cornish took over in 2021 and this year they posted their first profit since 2016, of £131,000, although that was largely due to cost-cutting measures that have had a significant effect on performance. The club did not employ overseas players this summer and missed out on promotion from Division Two of the County Championship, having been relegated last season. The financial cuts appear set to continue with the opener Mark Stoneman released and no plans to recruit overseas players next season.
With Middlesex struggling on and off the field, the details of the existing agreement, under which MCC pay their tenants several hundred thousand pounds each year to play at Lord’s in return for keeping match-day revenue, are also being reviewed. Having charged Middlesex rent and given the club gate receipts for almost 150 years, the two parties flipped the arrangement in signing a five-year deal in 2015, which was subsequently extended for another five years.
Middlesex’s crowds for T20 Blast matches have declined significantly in recent years and this past season two of their games were moved to Chelmsford, which affected the MCC’s revenue. More Blast games could be moved next season owing to the demand from other teams to play at Lord’s.
MCC sources say they want Middlesex to stay at Lord’s, but have given themselves more time to find a solution. Another factor that has influenced the delay is that MCC are undergoing a period of significant change, with a new chief executive to be appointed by the end of the year to replace Guy Lavender, who is leaving to become the chief executive of Cheltenham racecourse.
The former Hampshire captain Mark Nicholas took over as the MCC chair on 1 October having spent the past 12 months as the club’s president. The former Bank of England governor Mervyn King is replacing Nicholas in that role.
The Hundred sales process is another complicating factor as MCC are likely to have a new partner at Lord’s next year. The London Spirit are viewed as the most attractive of the eight franchises the ECB are selling 49% of, with Mumbai Indians’ owners, the Ambani family, expected to make an unbeatable bid.
MCC and Middlesex declined to comment.
