MCC Governance & Accountability to Members

The root cause of any major financial disaster can be traced, almost without exception, to poor governance and management’s lack of accountability to the people it is supposed to be representing. Sadly, this is what the Members of MCC now have in front of them. MCC, despite taking more than £8 million in annual subscriptions from Members, and owning one of the finest cricket grounds in the world, have failed to make a profit in living memory. The Governance and management structure of MCC is clearly not fit for purpose.

As far back as 2002, two decades ago, the Structure Working Party (SWP), chaired by Sir Scott Baker, reported to MCC management ...“the need to run the commercial aspects of Lord’s in a modern and business-like way”… introduce a …“Members’ Committee”… that “should be and be seen to be as democratic as possible”… and …“ultimately it is the paid executives who should manage the business of the Club answerable as they are to the Committee and the Membership”… Significantly the SWP also reported …“the role of the Trustees is unclear, in particular the demarcation of their powers and those of the Committee “…, moreover, …”the method of appointment of Trustees adds to the perception of a self-perpetuating oligarchy”... These important recommendations have never been implemented and MCC is in an even more precarious position today.

In 2011 the Incorporation and Structure Working Party (ISWP) was appointed by the MCC Committee to create a new governance structure; and an undertaking was given by Oliver Stocken, Chairman of MCC at the time, that the ISWP Report would be circulated unexpurgated to the Membership for initial consultation in the form of a Green Paper and final approval at an SGM. This never happened.

In February 2014 the extent of the problem of MCC Governance was highlighted by the Secretary and Chief Executive, Derek Brewer, in a paper submitted to the ISWP which stated …“it is difficult to run the MCC on a day to day basis” … and …“We have, however, been in a state of ongoing crisis and in an unsustainable environment for the past few years. Whilst we can probably carry on “muddling through” we do, in my view, need to enhance governance very seriously.”… This was never reported to Members and MCC is still "muddling through" 10 years later.  

Part 1) of the ISWP brief was completed and executed with the grant of a Royal Charter in July 2013. Part 2) of the ISWP report dealt with the necessary restructuring of MCC after becoming a Royal Charter corporation. MCC Members are, in legal terms, the shareholders of the corporation and fully entitled to hold those entrusted with the management of the Club to the standards of governance and accountability defined by the Financial Reporting Council on UK Corporate Governance. The present corporate architecture and governance are woefully inadequate and may well be in breach of the law.

The Members of MCC are no longer able to nominate Members to the Main Committee, except via the pernicious “NomCo” procedure, which is designed to filter out anyone likely to challenge the status quo. Members have had only restricted opportunities to ask questions at virtual meetings over the past 2 years and the 2022 AGM, which was a hybrid meeting, was managed to ensure that items for discussion were squeezed into the last few minutes of the meeting, with no time for proper discussion. Members have not been able …“to satisfy themselves that an appropriate governance structure is in place”… as they are entitled to do under UK Corporate Governance regulations as defined by the Financial Reporting Council.

The ISWP Report recommended a smaller Committee directly elected by Members, the establishment of a properly empowered and independent professional executive team, and a review of the duties and responsibilities of the Club Trustees. These recommendations provided possible solutions to the concerns expressed by Members over many years at AGMs/SGMs. The ISWP Report was rejected out of hand by a new Chairman, Gerald Corbett, shortly after his appointment in 2015.

Members’ dissatisfaction with MCC’s Governance is further exacerbated by the secrecy and lack of transparency that characterizes MCC operations. Committee members are obliged to sign a confidentiality agreement which is designed to prevent discussion of key items. Members of MCC are not able to see minutes of Committee meetings, the only information made available to Members are heavily sanitized "views from the Committee room".

The failure of MCC to provide past SGM supporters with a current list of Members exemplifies MCC's rigid control of communication with Members. In so doing the Club has tried to hide behind “UK GDPR regulations”, and when legal opinion refuted the fallacy of this argument the secondary excuse of Member’s confidentiality has been advanced. This is wholly inconsistent with best practice and has had the effect of allowing MCC to control the narrative of every SGM debate in the past. Many other leading clubs in London provide a list of members. The last thing MCC wants is an open discussion of the facts on a level playing field on any matter likely to be raised at an SGM or resolution at an AGM. Failure to provide a list of Members and contact details has therefore become a severely limiting factor in allowing Members to hear both sides of an argument and hold the Executive and MCC Committee to account. This must change!

Another aspect of the secrecy with which MCC is managed is the total mystery that surrounds the relationship with the English Cricket Board (ECB). Members are never shown forward budget projections, have never been informed of MCC’s commercial relationship with ECB, and have no idea of what forward income is likely from staging Test matches. Details of any agreement for the use of Lord’s to host Test matches and the staging costs are deemed too sensitive for Members to be allowed to have this information. Members, as owners of MCC, have funded investments of more than £100 million in ground and infra-structure improvements over the past 25 years so that Test matches can continue to be played on one of the finest venues in world cricket. On what basis are Members denied full access to the reasons for this investment??

The fundamental and democratic rights and privileges of the Members of MCC must be re-established.

For the above reasons, we will call for a Special General Meeting at an early date in 2024 calling for the suspension of the "NomCo" process for appointing a new Chair of the Committee and for the Members to engage in a democratic process for the nomination and election of a new Chair.