The forum, which proved hugely popular in bringing together influential people from across all aspects of cricket in its inaugural year in 2024, will be held at Lord’s on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, ahead of the ICC World Test Championship Final between South Africa and Australia.
The first event saw around 120 of the leading voices in cricket gather in the Long Room last July to discuss the many challenges and opportunities in global cricket. These included representatives from across the game and the industry, including administrators from the ICC, full and associate nations, leading broadcasters, technology experts, coaches and both current and former international players.
As the Club evolves the World Cricket Connects concept, the aim is for it to become the leading symposium in the game, facilitating the debate of strategic issues in an independent forum and establishing a consensus on paths to ensure cricket’s future success.
To achieve this objective, MCC has revealed today that a new World Cricket Connects Advisory Board (Connects Board) has been formed. This independent group will shape the annual World Cricket Connects agenda, help facilitate the event’s discussions and in turn maximise the opportunity for genuine impact on the health of the game.
MCC is delighted to confirm the following names have accepted invitations to join the board:
The Connects Board replaces the MCC World Cricket committee. Many of the areas of the global game which were debated and influenced as part of its remit will now be included and discussed by the Connects Board. The committee was established in 2006 as an independent body and completed a range of important work across a range of topics in the game, including day/night Test cricket, the World Test Championship, speeding up the pace of play, cricket in multi-format sports events such as the Olympics, and stronger anti-corruption deterrents. The final meeting of the committee meeting took place at Lord’s last summer.
The new Connects Board will meet virtually across the year in the planning of World Cricket Connects, and in-person immediately after the annual event. The Connects Board will work closely with the World Cricket Connects working group, which is led by Chair of MCC, Mark Nicholas.
Nicholas said of the announcement:
“Firstly, we are delighted to be bringing World Cricket Connects back to Lord’s in 2025, ahead of an immense meeting between South Africa and Australia in the ICC World Test Championship Final. We are looking forward to welcoming many of the game’s most influential figures to debate the most important topics that dominate global cricket.
“In planning the second event, an important step has been made in the forming of the World Cricket Connects Advisory Board. We have assembled an impressive group of the best minds in cricket across several different areas relevant to our sport. I am delighted to be working with this experienced group and excited about what we can collectively achieve for the benefit of the global game.”