MCC Touring Programme

More information coming soon.

A 13-man squad headed for its capital Tallinn where MCC is playing a series of fixtures against various opposition.

The squad is made up of MCC Playing Members who represent the Club in fixtures across the UK over the course of the summer.

Rupert Kitzinger, formerly of the Dorset National Counties team, will captain the side, and Alex Harris is the Tour Manager for the trip.

All the matches on the tour will take place at the Estonia National Cricket and Rugby Field in Tallinn, which has two pitches and are the only permanent full-sized grounds in the country.

The Club will open the tour with two T20 fixtures against the Tallinn Hippos. The Hippos are a side that were formed in 2018 and have enjoyed success in the Estonian men’s domestic competitions in recent seasons.

The following day will see MCC face the Estonian national team in two T20 matches. Estonia was awarded T20 International status by the ICC in 2018 and its men’s side are currently placed at 72^nd in the world rankings.

Estonia hit the headlines recently during their tour of Cyprus when batter Sahil Chauhan hit the fastest ever T20I century, scoring a ton from 27 balls and breaking the record held by Chris Gayle of the West Indies. Chauhan finished unbeaten on 144 from 41 balls, including 18 sixes, which is also a T20I record.

The Tallinn Stallions will be the next opposition for MCC, another side who play in the Estonian domestic structure, before a 40-over match against NATO, a team comprised from the Forward Land Forces Battlegroup (Estonia).

The squad will then move into a more competitive environment as they take part in the Baltic Cup, with three T20s taking place over the second weekend of the tour. The tournament was relaunched in 2020 after a gap of several years, and this time will see national teams from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania competing. The tournament represents a rare occasion for the latter two countries to experience competitive cricket.

With the focus of any MCC overseas tour to assist with the development of cricket in the country, the squad will hold a coaching clinic with the Estonian women’s team, who also recently enjoyed a T20I tour of Cyprus and sit 71^st in the ICC rankings.

More information coming soon.

A 13-man squad departed Lord’s for Amsterdam, where MCC are playing a series of fixtures against strong opposition.

The squad is made of MCC Playing Members who play across the country in various ECB Premier Divisions, the highest standard of club cricket in England and Wales.

Oliver Haley, who plays for East Molesey in the Surrey Premier League and has previously played in the Home Counties and Birmingham Premier Leagues, will captain the side.

Tour Manager is Phil Nicholson, of Washington in the North East Premier League and formerly of Northumberland CCC.

The Club will face CTC De Flamingos in three separate T20 matches across the week. De Flamingos are one of the oldest clubs in the Netherlands, having been formed back in 1921.

They have faced MCC at several venues over the years and played the Club at Lord’s in 2022, losing by 90 runs.

Netherlands ‘A’ are MCC’s opponents in two 50-over matches, and with the country currently sitting 14^th in the ICC One-Day International rankings, the ‘A’ squad will provide a stern test.

There will be two venues used for the tour. The VRA Ground in Amstelveen is the most famous ground in the Netherlands, having hosted a match in the 1999 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and it was the venue for three ODIs against England in 2022.

Voorburg Cricket Club, situated in The Hague, will also play host to MCC and is another ground in the Netherlands which has hosted ODI cricket.

MCC recently returned from a tour to Rwanda, where they competed in fixtures against the national side, as well as development and age-group teams. MCC also worked alongside the MCC Foundation in helping to deliver valuable coaching sessions.

These tours are invaluable to both our members and the host countries and this was the first of 5 tours that MCC will undertake in 2024.

In the final trip of the 2023 MCC Overseas Touring Programme, a squad of players departed Lord’s for Kenya for a two-week men’s tour of the African country.

A strong squad of 13 players, plus a Tour Manager and Umpire, travelled to Nairobi as the Club began its longest tour of the year, which comprises of eight matches. Previous overseas tours in 2023 have seen men’s squads travel to Belize, Austria and Greece, and a women’s squad to Germany.

This will be the strongest men’s squad that the Club has toured with this year, with several current and former first-class players included for MCC’s first trip to Kenya since 2018, having previously not toured there since 1999.

The squad will be captained by former Kent and Leicestershire all-rounder Darren Stevens and led by Tour Manager Arfan Akram, who sits on the MCC Committee and served on the Players & Fixtures sub-committee between 2013 and 2016, having played over 100 games for the Club.

Stevens can boast over 16,500 first-class runs and nearly 600 first-class wickets in a decorated career spanning more than 25 years.

He is joined by two former Kent teammates – Marcus O’Riordan, a batter who featured in the LV= County Championship and Metro Bank One-Day Cup this year, and Adam Ball, a former England Under-19s left-armer.

Current Derbyshire and former Hampshire batter Harry Came, who averaged 43.43 across 11 matches in this year’s County Championship, boosts the first-class experience, with the remainder of the squad consisting of players who have regularly played county second eleven, National Counties and ECB Premier League cricket.

In the eight games that MCC will play across the fortnight, the formats will vary between 20, 30 and 50-over matches. The action will begin in Nairobi, and move north to Nakuru, before a coastal trip to Mombasa is bookended by further matches in the capital.

The squad, captained by Fabian Taylor and led by Tour Manager James Nicholls, will play four T20 matches during the tour, opening with a match against the Greek national team, before facing a selection of well-established clubs from the island of Corfu.

All four scheduled matches will take place at the beautiful Marina Cricket Ground in Gouvia, Corfu, which has previously played host to men’s T20 International matches involving Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia.

The squad will also train with the Under-19 National Cricket Academy at the Liston Cricket Ground in Corfu Town, as MCC continues its work to help develop the global game in areas of the world where cricket is less prevalent.

The Hellenic Cricket Federation (HCF) celebrated its two-hundredth anniversary earlier this year, marking the first cricket match played in Corfu between officers of the British Navy, and the island has remained the home of Greek cricket ever since.

The game continues to grow elsewhere in the country, but Corfu remains a popular touring destination for clubs from all over the world and Saturday morning cricket is a prominent feature in the historic old town.

The HCF can boast an established men’s national team, ranked 82 in T20Is by the ICC, whilst their women’s national team played their first T20Is last year.

MCC continued its Overseas Touring Programme for 2023, with a women’s squad departing Lord’s for Germany.

The Club has already toured both Belize and Austria this year, with men’s squads embarking on trips to both countries, and now a squad of 12 women’s players, plus a Tour Manager and Umpire, will travel to Dresden for a four-day tour.

The squad, captained by Hazel Lovegrove and led by Tour Manager Sinead Goodden, will play both the Germany and Austria national teams in T20 matches across the course of the short tour, as well as facing a DCB Development Team with some of the country’s up and coming young players involved.

As MCC tours are designed to help develop the global game in areas of the world where cricket is less prevalent, the squad will undertake a coaching session with women and children from the Saxony region of Germany during the trip, of which Dresden is a part of.

MCC last toured Germany in June 2017 when a men’s squad helped prepare the national side for some important upcoming fixtures, and the Club documented the trip via its YouTube channel HERE.

After a recent successful tour to Belize, MCC will be continued their overseas touring programme with a trip to Austria.

The tour is a short one in comparison to other MCC tours as it will last less than a week, however there is a sole focus on T20 cricket for this trip to help prepare their hosts for an important upcoming tournament – the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 European Regional Finals.

Austria, who are ranked 43^rd in the ICC Men’s T20 rankings, enjoyed success in Finland earlier in the qualification process when they won the Europe Sub-Regional Qualifier B, defeating Norway in the final in Kerava.

The squad took on all four nations who are competing in this year’s tournament as they aim to qualify for the latter stages of the competition.

The touring squad will be captained by Steven Reingold and Tim Cooper is the Tour Manager for the trip.

Former Glamorgan batter Reingold recently made a half-century in the MCC Men’s Day fixture at Lord’s, and also in the squad is Josh Knappett, formerly of Worcestershire and currently working in a High Performance Coaching role at Middlesex. Several other members of the touring squad also possess experience in the first-class game.

As with all MCC overseas tours, there will be an emphasis on coaching in local schools and clubs, as well as umpire education, with two sessions dedicated to the training of local officials.

Comprising of 15 players, the squad played six matches in Nepal against a variety of opposition and led on several coaching sessions both for local children and coaches themselves in Pokhara.

These sessions were run in conjunction the MCC Foundation (MCCF) – who have been working to deliver cricket to young people in Nepal since 2019, Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB) and the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).

The non-playing elements of the tour began with the running of an education session in which coaches were taught how to run engaging sessions and use coaching tools such as the use of questions, silence, praise, individual and group feedback.

A gender sensitisation workshop took place where the barriers which women and girls face in cricket and in wider society were discussed. Local players who were part of the MCCF programmes told of how cricket empowers them in a relatively conservative society.

The workshops, led by a gender specialist, form a core component of the Cricket for Equality project delivery in Biratnagar/East Nepal and serve as a method to facilitate discussion around gender-based norms and issues.

The squad also led coaching sessions with schoolchildren, with one group of players coaching academy players from Pokhara and Kaski, whilst three other groups headed to schools across Pokhara, where players came from schools that Kidasha – the local delivery partner of MCCF – work in.

There were between 60-80 young cricketers at each two-hour session, with an even split of boys and girls. At the conclusion of the tour, the squad donated kit and clothing to Kidasha and CWB to distribute across MCCF programmes in Pokhara and Biratnagar.

On the playing front, MCC won two of their six matches, with their first win coming against an ICC Under-19 XI in Kathmandu, which comprised of players from Malaysia, UAE, Bhutan, Qatar and hosts Nepal.

Former England international Claire Taylor, who was managing the tour, struck 97 from 66 balls as MCC made 175 for 3 in their 20 overs. The tourists then restricted their opponents to 159 for 4, despite an unbeaten 80 from 18 year-old UAE international Theertha Satish.

Taylor, who is Chair of the MCC Cricket committee and previously won 168 caps for her country, was making her 100^th appearance for the Club.

MCC also tasted victory in Pokhara against a CAN XI made up of players that were either from or had come through the local MCCF funded projects. Three wickets for Jo Foster helped bowl the Nepalese XI out for 66 before unbeaten knocks from Abbie Whybrow (30) and Rachael Potter (29) saw MCC win by 10 wickets.

There was also a low-scoring T20 thriller against Nepal in Pokhara. MCC had restricted their hosts to 99 for 9 and would have fancied a tilt at victory needing 22 from the final six deliveries with four wickets in hand, but an incredible last over from the experienced Rubina Chetri saw the seamer take four wickets in four balls as MCC were bowled out for 80.

Away from cricket, the squad visited the beautiful Boudhanath Stupa, experienced the Diwali festivities in Kathmandu, admired the scale of the Himalayas, and visited The Tal Barahi Temple on the Phewa Tal (lake) followed by a hike to the World Peace Pagoda Stupa.

They also visited Gurkha and Mountaineering museums and a traditional Tibetan village, attended singing bowl meditation sessions and yoga, and headed up the cable car to the Sarangkot for sunrise. A few also braved the airways to paraglide over the Annapurna range and used the last morning in Kathmandu to fly past Everest.

MCC embarked on a two-week tour of Uganda, the first time MCC had toured the country since 2013. A squad of 13, captained by George Thurstance and managed by Simon Hinks, played six matches across a range of formats.

The players were selected from the National Counties network to compete with Uganda, who are currently ranked 24^th in the ICC Men’s T20 International rankings ahead of the likes of Italy, Kenya and the United States.

The side was beaten by a Uganda XI in the opening game of the tour but rallied to win the remaining games against Uganda Under-19’s, Ceylon CC, a Developmental Invitational XI and a Chairman’s XI, as well as victory over the Uganda XI in a two-day match. As with all of MCC’s tours, the squad spent time coaching aspiring age-group youngsters and local schoolchildren.

The Italy tour was hosted by Federazione Cricket Italiana and comprised seven matches in 11 days, including three T20 matches against the Italian national side. MCC then played 40 over games against club side Roma Capannelle and a President’s XI, before rounding off the trip with two 50 over matches against Italy Under-19’s.

Former MCC Young Cricketer, Middlesex and England cricketer and international umpire Ian Gould was manager of the 13-man squad, which consisted of players from the National Counties Cricket Association and ECB Premier Leagues and was skippered by Sam Arthurton.

MCC won all of their fixtures – apart from one rain-affected match – and spent time coaching in schools in Rome, before moving on to Bologna where the squad opened a new ground.

A squad departed for Romania in May 2022, where MCC played four T20 matches against Cricket Romania. All four games will take place at the Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground in Bucharest, a ground that has been hosting T20 International cricket since 2019.

Doug Mulholland, who represents Great Ayton in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Premier League, was the captain for the Romanian tour, with Mark Langford managing the side.

MCC embarked on two European summer tours and the initial trip to Serbia saw MCC play five T20 matches in their seven-day tour, including matches against the Serbian National Team and the Belgrade Cricket Association.

As with any MCC tour, part of the commitment to the country is to provide coaching sessions with local children and the squad will be doing so at Belgrade Fortress, ahead of their first match.

Toby Drummond, who plays for Toft in the Cheshire Premier League, captained MCC in Serbia, whilst Jean-Paul Rees was the Team Manager.

The MCC Spirit of Cricket Tournament, hosted at the Desert Springs Cricket Ground in Almería, Spain, began with the first of two MCC teams playing Germany and Italy.

All three days of cricket provided some extremely competitive action in the T20 format, with the outcome of the matches usually decided by individual moments of excellence, such as Fayez Naseri’s unbeaten 42, which included 28 off only five balls as Germany defeated MCC.

Germany became the stand out side in this segment of the tournament, winning all four matches and showing their experience in T20 Internationals. This format is prioritised by European nations, with most of their playing time normally dedicated to this form of the game.

Both MCC and Italy won one match out of their four, with MCC beating the Italians by seven wickets. Skipper Chris Swallow claimed miserly figures of 2 for 6 as Italy made 137 for 6, before Kent’s Marcus O’Riordan top-scored with 41 as MCC made it home with three balls to spare.

The second week began with a fresh squad of MCC players arriving in Almería ready to take on Austria and Spain. On the opening day, a strong Spanish performance saw them defeat Austria, before the Austrian side redeemed themselves in an exciting victory to beat MCC in the final over.

Unfortunately, poor weather dictated proceedings on the second day as both matches were washed out. On the final day’s play, Spain again triumphed over Austria with Daniel Doyle’s unbeaten 80 the highlight of the innings.

Rain also played a part in the final game of the trip as Spain beat MCC by 12 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method, despite a knock of 40 from Charlie Hurley. The result saw Spain match Germany’s achievements in the first half of the tournament by winning all their matches.

The tournament was gratefully received by the nations involved as well as the Members who represented MCC on this trip, which was the first overseas tour the Club has been able to provide since early 2020, due to the complications of travel caused by Covid-19.

The matches not only gave the players involved valuable experience of performing under pressure, but also provided the coaches the opportunity to see their players play in tight situations, which will add to their development significantly.

Italy Head Coach and former Hampshire, Middlesex and Northamptonshire all-rounder Gareth Berg said: “From our perspective, it was like gold dust for me to get the opportunity to coach and look at a wider scope of possible national players moving forward.

“We hope that one day we could invite MCC along with others to hold a similar event and showcase some of our beautiful country.”

Ian Ramage, who sits on the ECB’s Umpire Panel, also provided several of the officials with expert coaching whilst former Pakistan international Yasir Arafat, who managed the first squad of MCC players, has spent time with players from the opposing nations, imparting valuable knowledge from his vast experience of the international game.

The full scorecards and results from all the matches that took place are available via the 'Fixtures and Results' tab above.

The Club sent a strong twelve-man squad to Lahore to play a series of matches, with MCC President Kumar Sangakkara captaining the side.

The concept of an MCC tour to the country has been a long-stated aim of the MCC World Cricket committee. It is a clear demonstration of the Club’s support for Pakistan’s cricketers and fans, who have been affected by the country’s decade-long exile from hosting international cricket, which came to an end last month.

The 13-day trip was the Club’s first visit to the South American country since 2013 and MCC played a mixture of 50-over and T20 cricket on the tour.

MCC Overseas Tours aim to develop the game in areas of the world where cricket is less popular and the Club has played regularly against teams from South America in recent years. This tour also included a junior coaching clinic at the Belgrano Athletic Club, where the squad will passed on tips to local youngsters.

MCC complete their overseas touring programme for 2019 later this week when a thirteen-man squad departs for Sierra Leone.

The thirteen-day trip – which will see MCC play both 50-over and T20 cricket on the trip – is the first tour the Club has sent to Sierra Leone since 2003.

The squad of MCC Playing Members has been selected from a variety of areas from across the UK and Ireland. They will travel to the capital Freetown, where they will be met by the President of Sierra Leone, before training ahead of a busy playing programme across the fortnight.

The touring party will play a pair of matches against the Sierra Leone Under-19 team in the T20 and 50-over formats respectively, either side of a visit to the provinces where the squad will undertake a coaching session at the Mokonde Grounds in Njala.

MCC will then face the Sierra Leone national team in a 50-over match and two T20 matches, before ending the tour with a T20 against a Combined XI and another 50-over clash with the national side. All matches will be played at the Prince of Wales Grounds in Freetown.

Sierra Leone became an Affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2002 and an Associate nation in 2017. MCC has a long-standing relationship with the Sierra Leone Cricket Association (SLCA) having toured the West African nation several times prior to the most recent visit in 2003. The Club donated cricket nets and flooring to the SLCA in 2011 which were previously in use within the MCC Cricket Academy at Lord’s.

The squad will be captained by Gus Kennedy, who has represented both Cambridge and Oxford Universities in first-class cricket.

The Tour Manager for the trip is Jamie Clifford, MCC Assistant Secretary (Membership & Operations).

As announced in the summer of 2018, MCC has introduced into its overseas touring programme a series of Legacy Tours, aimed at leaving a sustainable and meaningful impact in developing cricket nations.

The first of these is Nepal, with the Club committing to touring Nepal for three years from 2019 to 2021 inclusive. The MCC Foundation will support MCC in this objective, by funding programmes off the pitch which includes laying nets in five government schools, upskilling local coaches and teachers, and broadening access to the game for Nepali boys and girls.

A strong 13-man squad will be departing London for Nepal on 1^st November, and will play six matches in the two-week trip including a three-day match against the Nepal national side, which has been granted first-class status.

Former Hampshire batsman Jimmy Adams is the MCC captain for the tour. Adams enjoyed a sixteen-year career with Hampshire and is currently second eleven coach at the Ageas Bowl.

Yasir Arafat, who represented Pakistan in all three formats of the game, is included in the squad. The seamer also enjoyed stints at no less than five counties and is still one of the world’s leading T20 wicket-takers.

Tom Westley, who recently helped Essex to their second Specsavers County Championship title in three seasons, will bring further international experience to MCC having played five Test Matches for England in 2017, whilst Derbyshire skipper Billy Godleman, who enjoyed an impressive 2019 season making over 1,000 Championship runs, is also included.

The fourteen-day tour, which will concentrate solely on T20 cricket, will see MCC compete in the Central American Cricket Championship. It is the first of three overseas trips for the Club this year, with visits to Nepal and Sierra Leone planned for later in 2019.

Initially, the squad will travel to Costa Rica, playing three matches against the national team. All three games will be hosted at the Los Reyes Polo Club, located just outside the capital city, San José.

MCC will then head to Mexico, where they will take on the four nations – Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama – competing in the Central American Championship. This is the seventh edition of the tournament, which MCC won in 2017.

All the games in the tournament, which is played in a round-robin format, will be played at the Reforma Athletic Club. The matches between nations will be played as official T20Is, following ICC’s announcement that, from the beginning of 2019, T20 matches between all ICC Member countries would be granted T20I status.