MCC awards Honorary Life Membership of the Club to some of the world’s finest cricketers and can today reveal the names of the latest men and women to have been bestowed with this privilege:
Stuart Broad – England (2006-2023)
Katherine Sciver-Brunt – England (2004-2023)
Dwayne Bravo - West Indies (2004-2021)
Deandra Dottin - West Indies (2008-2022)
Chris Gayle - West Indies (1999-2021)
Shabnim Ismail - South Africa (2007-2023)
Sana Mir – Pakistan (2005-2019)
Lizelle Lee - South Africa (2013-2022)
Dane van Niekerk - South Africa (2009-2021)
Mohammad Yousaf – Pakistan (1998-2010)
The Club has also announced that Honorary Life Membership has been awarded to former MCC Treasurers Justin Dowley and Tony Elgood.
The list of 10 former internationals includes some of the most recognisable names to have played in the modern era.
Stuart Broad called time on an incredible England career last summer, taking 604 Test wickets in his 167 matches. He features on the Honours Board at Lord’s four times and sits fifth on the all-time leading wicket taker list in men’s Tests – second in terms of fast bowlers.
Winning three World Cups and three Ashes series, seamer Katherine Sciver-Brunt ended her 19-year international career last year. With 335 wickets across all formats, she topped England’s wicket-taking list in both white-formats at the time of her retirement.
West Indies are represented three times on the list. Dwayne Bravo, who made his Test debut at Lord’s in 2004, went on to become one of the most decorated players in T20 International cricket since its inception, playing in seven World Cups and winning two of them.
Deandra Dottin made her name in the international game scoring a 38-ball century against South Africa at the 2010 World Cup. She retired as West Indies’ most capped women’s cricketer, having played 124 T20Is and 143 One-Day Internationals, scoring close to 6,500 runs and claiming 134 wickets.
A player whose style at the top of the order was similar across all formats, Chris Gayle is one of only four batters to have scored two triple-hundreds in Test matches. He made over 7,000 runs in his 103 Tests, more than 12,300 runs in 380 white-ball matches.
Shabnim Ismail was regarded as one of the quickest bowlers in the women’s game in her pomp. She is South Africa’s record wicket-taker in the white-ball formats and ended her fine career with 317 wickets in 241 matches.
Pakistan’s Sana Mir captained her country in 137 of her 226 international matches and was the first Pakistani bowler to reach 100 wickets in women’s ODIs. She took 240 international wickets before moving on to become a broadcaster within the game.
Lizelle Lee, an opening batter who was named ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2022, played a century of matches for South Africa in ODIs. She scored over 3,300 ODI runs and over 1,800 runs in T20Is.
All-rounder Dane van Niekerk captained South Africa between 2016 and 2021 and the leg-spinner was the first Proteas woman to take 100 wickets in ODIs. She took over 200 wickets across all formats, whilst making over 4,000 runs in the process.
Mohammad Yousaf averaged 52.29 in his 90 Test matches for Pakistan, scoring over 7,500 runs, and making over 9,700 runs in 288 ODIs. He still holds the record for the most Test runs in a calendar year, scoring 1,788 runs in 2006.
Guy Lavender, MCC Chief Executive & Secretary, said: “As we make the final preparations for our first international match of the season at Lord’s, we are delighted to be able to announce our newest cohort of Honorary Life Members of MCC.
“The individuals announced today are some of the greatest international players in recent years, and we are honoured to welcome them as Members of our Club.
“We are also pleased to be able to announce two individuals who have been recognised for their exceptional contributions to MCC over a number of years.”