Middlesex County Cricket Club is reportedly set to agree a short-term extension to its lease deal with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) amid uncertainty over its long-term future at Lord’s.
With Middlesex’s current tenancy contract expiring this year, The Guardian said the club is close to agreeing a 12-month extension that will ensure the majority of its matches next year remain at the historic venue it has called home since 1877.
Middlesex has most recently operated under five-year contracts to play at Lord’s, with the business model of the deal having changed back in 2015. While the club historically paid rent and held onto gate receipts for its matches, the 2015 agreement, which was subsequently extended for a further five years, sees the MCC pay Middlesex to play at Lord’s in return for retaining all gate receipts and matchday revenue.
The Guardian said the 12-month agreement has been reached as an emergency measure, with the terms of the tenancy currently in place being reviewed. Middlesex has also been hit by governance and financial issues in recent years, with senior figures at the MCC reported to have expressed concerns about the way the county is run.
The latest news comes after Middlesex chief executive, Andrew Cornish, told the Sunday Times in April that the club could relocate to a new ground in north-west London, although later moving to state this wouldn’t happen “any time soon”.
The MCC owns Lord’s with members in May approving a new £61.8m (€74.2m/$82m) redevelopment that will focus on upgrading the ground’s Tavern and Allen stands.
