MCC Committee

Ed Smith

President

Elected to MCC membership 2025

Ed Smith is an author, academic and former professional cricketer. He has published five books, including What Sport Tells Us About Life (Penguin) and Making Decisions (HarperCollins). He is Director and Co-Founder of the Institute of Sports Humanities, which educates leaders in sport.

He is a Contributing Writer for the New Statesman magazine, having previously been a lead writer for The Times.

As a cricketer, Smith played for Cambridge University, Kent, Middlesex and England from 1996 to 2008. He was Chief Selector for England cricket from 2018 to 2021, a period of unprecedented success, including England men's first 50-over World Cup win in 2019. He has also worked in professional football, using AI tools in high performance strategy.

His one-year term as President commenced on 1 October 2025, following his nominator for the role by the outgoing President, Lord King of Lothbury at the 2025 AGM.

Mark Nicholas

Club Chair

Elected to MCC membership 1981

Mark Nicholas is a broadcaster and journalist. Twice named as Sports Presenter of the Year, he currently works with Supersport in South Africa. He moved into the media following a successful career in professional cricket, as a top-order batter and medium-pace bowler for Hampshire, captaining them to four major trophies and also captaining England A.

He is also co-founder of the charity Chance to Shine (CTS), with which he remains fully involved. He is looking forward to developing a closer relationship between CTS and the MCC Foundation.

Mark was appointed as MCC Club Chair in 2024, having served a one-year term as President in 2023-24. He has also served on the Club’s Cricket committee, Marketing and Laws, Spirit & Ethos as well as the Main Committee and was also a part of the small working party that formed the principle of the Spirit of Cricket.

Rob Lawson

Chief Executive & Secretary

Elected to MCC membership 2025

Rob has a wealth of leadership and commercial expertise from a 34-year career in the energy sector, having held senior executive roles at BP and Mercuria Energy Group.

Rob began his career at BP in 1990. He held a variety of roles across Europe and Latin America, ultimately serving as Global Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, overseeing transactions in excess of $100bn. He also led large-scale organisational and cultural change as Programme Director.

In 2022, Rob moved to Geneva to join Mercuria as Executive Vice President, where he was responsible for a diverse portfolio of traditional and renewable energy assets. He remains a Non-Executive Director at Serica Energy Plc 

A lifelong cricket enthusiast, he is still a recreational player and actively supports the Alsama Project, which uses cricket to empower young refugees in Lebanon.

In addition, Rob serves as an Honorary Visiting Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School and as the Senior Independent Director at the British American Football Association. He was appointed Chief Executive & Secretary of MCC in 2025.

Chris Rogers

Treasurer and Chair of Finance

Elected to MCC membership 1977

Chris Rogers is Chair of Wickes plc and sits on the boards of Kerry Group and Sanderson Design Group. He has played cricket throughout his life and continues to play today, turning out for Turville Park Cricket Club with its glorious views over the Chilterns.

After qualifying as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse he had a long career in the retail and leisure industries. His last executive role was on the Board of Whitbread plc where he served as Chief Financial Officer for seven years before becoming Global Managing Director of Costa Coffee.

Chris was appointed as the Club’s Treasurer in 2023 and chairs its Finance committee, which he joined in 2015.

Eoin Morgan, CBE

Chair of Cricket

Elected to MCC membership 2023

Eoin Morgan is a former Middlesex, London Spirit, Ireland and England player (2003-23). He is currently part of the Sky Sports Cricket commentary team.

He remains the only male cricketer to have captained England to victory (in 2019) in the 50-over World Cup and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2020 in recognition of his services to cricket.

He is a London Spirit Board Director, having been nominated by MCC for the role. He served on MCC's World Cricket committee from 2023 to 2024.

Eoin's appointment as Chair of Cricket (including a position on the MCC Committee) for a three-year term commencing on 1 October 2025 was approved by Members at the 2025 AGM.

Richard Baldwin

Chair of Estates

Elected to MCC membership 2002

Richard Baldwin is a Chartered Surveyor with over 40 years of experience in the London construction market. Over the course of his career, he has been responsible for the successful delivery of numerous high-profile projects. He currently serves as Director of Development at Derwent London.

He joined MCC's Estates committee in 2018. He has also served as a trustee of the Architectural Association Foundation and The Theatres Trust, and currently acts as a special advisor to the Royal Academy of Arts.

His appointment as Chair of Estates (including a position on the MCC Committee) for a three-year term commencing on 1 October 2025 was approved by Members at the 2025 AGM.

Emma John

Chair of Heritage & Collections

Elected to MCC membership 2015

Emma John is an author and journalist whose cricket-writing career spans 25 years and was the first woman in the UK to win a Sports Journalism Award. Alongside editing roles at Wisden Cricket Monthly, Observer Sport Monthly and the Observer Magazine, she has covered major sporting tournaments including the Olympics, Ashes, Wimbledon, and Rugby and Cricket World Cups, and authored three nationally-acclaimed books. Creator and host of The Guardian’s cricket podcast The Spin, Emma is also a regular voice on national radio, and recent recognition includes the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award in 2023 and Freelance Sports Writer of the Year in 2022.

Emma was appointed as Chair of Heritage & Collections in 2024, having been a member of the Heritage & Collections committee since 2020.

Vicky Griffiths

Chair of Membership and General Purposes

Elected to MCC membership 2002

Vicky Griffiths is a partner in an executive search firm and has had a successful business career as a strategy consultant and in financial services. She has wide-ranging non-executive experience both in the not-for-profit sector, including for the British Olympic Foundation, as well as in education and financial services. She is an accomplished cricketer (including for MCC) and a former international hockey player. 

Vicky was appointed Chair of Membership and General Purposes in 2022, having previously served on the MCC Committee from 2013-16 and from 2019-2022, as well as on the Finance committee from 2010-22.

Arfan Akram

Appointed member

Elected to MCC membership 2008

Arfan Akram began his cricketing association with the Club as a 13-year-old, winning the MCC under-13s winter player of the year. He is currently East London Operations Manager at Essex CCC and previously worked at ECB, ICC and MCC. He is on the MCC’s Elite Players List, has been on three overseas tours (one as captain) and has played over 100 games for the Club. He has also been a volunteer head coach of an MCC Schools team. 

Arfan was appointed to the MCC Committee in 2022 having served on the Players & Fixtures sub-committee from 2013-16.

Cora McCallum

Appointed member

Elected to MCC membership 2016

Cora McCallum is currently Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at a major healthcare company, having spent over 20 years in the City as an Equity Research analyst. As well as playing cricket for MCC, she enjoys participating in a variety of sports and has completed three London Marathons and two London Triathlons.

Cora was appointed to the MCC Committee in 2022, having served on the Finance committee since 2020 and the Membership and General Purposes committee from 2017-20.

Julian Metherell

Apppointed member

Elected to MCC membership 1986

Julian Metherell has been a partner at MW&L Capital Partners since 2015. Prior to this, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where he served as Chief Executive Officer of the UK Banking Division from 2006 to 2011.

He chaired the Professional Cricketers' Association from 2019 to 2024.

Julian chairs London Spirit's Board of Directors, having been nominated by MCC for the role. Earlier, he had successfully led MCC's negotiating team during ECB's sales process to identify an investment partner for a 49% stake in the London Spirit franchise in The Hundred.

His appointment to the MCC Committee for a three-year term commencing on 1 October 2025 was approved by Members at the 2025 AGM.

David Faber

Trustee

Elected to MCC membership 1981

David Faber was appointed as a Trustee in 2023. He has been Headmaster at Summer Fields School in Oxford since 2010. He was the Member of Parliament for Westbury from 1992-2001, before leaving politics to focus on a career as a writer and historian.

A Playing Member, David has toured with the Club including as manager of the tour to Canada in 2001. He began the first of his four terms on the MCC Committee in 1997 and has also served on the Marketing and Arts and Library (now Heritage & Collections) committees, chairing the latter from 2013-19.

Tim O'Gorman

Trustee

Elected to MCC membership 1991

Tim O'Gorman is a General Counsel and Company Secretary at Halford Group plc - a role he has occupied since 2016. A former professional cricketer, he played First-Class cricket for Derbyshire from 1987 to 1996. He has been a Playing Member of the Club since 1991. He chaired the Professional Cricketers' Association Group from 2001 to 2008, was a Director of the Cricket Foundation/Chance to Shine from 2003 to 2016, and chaired the ECB's Cricket Discipline Commission from 2016 to 2025.

He served four three-year terms as a member of the MCC Committee during a period from 1998 to 2013. He also served on the Cricket committee from 2000 to 2007, was a member of the Incorporation and Structure Working Party, and chaired the Young Cricketers' sub-committee which oversaw the selection of female cricketers as MCC Young Cricketers for the first time.

Tim's appointment as a Trustee for a three-year term commencing on 1 October 2025 was approved by Members at the 2025 AGM.

John Varley

Trustee

Elected to MCC membership 2011

John Varley was appointed as a Trustee in 2021. He served on the Finance committee from 2011-21. He was Group Chief Executive of Barclays Bank between 2004 and 2010. Since then, he has served as a non-executive director on the boards of AstraZeneca, Rio Tinto and BlackRock. He was chairman of Marie Curie Cancer Care, a Fellow of Eton College, and a trustee of the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation.