• ICC World T20 champions West Indies will play an ICC Rest of the World XI at Lord’s on Thursday 31st May 2018, to raise money for parts of the Caribbean affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
• Proceeds to go towards the restoration of cricket grounds in Dominica and Anguilla that were damaged by the hurricanes.
• Match to have full International T20 status and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), in conjunction with Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), has today announced that a special fundraising T20 International match will be played at Lord’s on Thursday 31st May 2018.

West Indies, current ICC World T20 champions, will take on an ICC Rest of the World XI, in a one-off match which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed its full support by granting the match International status and asking Giles Clarke, ECB President and ICC Board Member, to assist in coordinating the match. The cricket grounds in Dominica (Windsor Park Stadium) and Anguilla (James Ronald Webster Park) were damaged following the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. These essential grounds represent the heartbeat of cricket in each country and are important community facilities. The proceeds from the fundraising match will go towards their restoration. Tickets for the match are priced between £20 and £60, with all children’s tickets set at £10, and are available for purchase now at www.lords.org/tickets, or by telephoning the M.C.C. Ticket Office (020 7432 1000).

CWI President, Dave Cameron, said: “Hurricanes Irma and Maria have devastated parts of the Eastern Caribbean and we have been considering how CWI can best show support for our region in the most impactful way. I would like personally to thank MCC for agreeing to host the match at Lord’s, and ECB, especially their President Giles Clarke, for their kind and generous support of this initiative. I am sure the match will be highly entertaining and competitive, as well as a great platform for us to raise much-needed funds.”

The Chief Executive & Secretary of MCC, Guy Lavender, said: “MCC is delighted to be able to host this very special match.  The last time that a match between West Indies and Rest of the World was held at Lord’s was in 1966. MCC has enjoyed a warm relationship with the people of the Caribbean for over a century, and is proud to be able to play a part in providing relief for the areas that were devastated by last year’s hurricanes. I am looking forward to seeing a capacity crowd to help raise funds to restore important cricket facilities.”

Colin Graves, Chairman of ECB, commented: “To have two category 5 hurricanes in the space of two weeks was unprecedented and everyone around the world was shocked by the destruction which was caused. The ECB and CWI have always enjoyed a fantastic relationship and we are keen to support them and the people of the Caribbean in this fundraising initiative. I would like to thank our partners, Sky Sports, for their immediate support by agreeing to broadcast this special International match, and MCC for agreeing to host it at Lord’s.”

Notes to editors:

About Marylebone Cricket Club

MCC is the world’s most active cricket club, the owner of Lord’s Ground and the guardian of the Laws and Spirit of the game. There are 18,000 Full and 5,500 Associate Members of MCC.

MCC also has a World Cricket committee, which is chaired by Mike Gatting and contains eminent current and former players and administrators – including Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting. It has a remit to act as an independent think tank, debating issues and making recommendations about the health and state of the game and to commission research.

MCC owns the most comprehensive collection of cricket artefacts and books in the world, housed in its museum and library at Lord’s which is visited by tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world each year.

About Lord’s Cricket Ground

The current Lord’s Cricket Ground is its third incarnation. The first ever match played at ‘Lord’s Cricket Ground’ came in 1787 when businessman Thomas Lord staged a game between Middlesex and Essex at a newly built ground in what was then known as Dorset Fields.

By 1811, MCC had moved to a new Ground in the Eyre Estate of St John’s Wood. This ground proved unpopular but when plans emerged for the Regent’s Canal to be built straight through it, Thomas Lord gratefully accepted compensation and moved the Ground to its current location in 1814.

– CWI Media