The rebuilding of the Allen and Tavern Stands at Lord’s, a £98 million project that was originally supposed to have begun last year, is to be postponed until at least 2027. Instead, MCC, faced with competition for major matches from other venues, is intent on redeveloping the Compton and Edrich Stands at the Nursery End to increase the capacity of the ground by 2,000 to 31,000.

Planning permission is likely to take two years to obtain and MCC still has to decide whether to try to fund the costs of this rebuilding work out of its own resources — each stand will cost about £20 million plus professional fees — or to accept an offer of £100 million from Rifkind Levy Partnership, a property group