MCC prepares for stadium rivalry

The MCC is proud of the unique character of Lord's

The MCC, which owns Lord's, will "hit the competition head on" if the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium is used to host floodlit cricket after the 2012 Games.

The London Development Agency has asked the England and Wales Cricket Board to consider using the ground post-2012.

But MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw said: "In the face of a potentially massive rival, we would strive to continue to play to our strengths.

"Lord's has a unique selling point. If competition is forthcoming, so be it."

Bradshaw is writing to the LDA to ascertain "exactly what engagement has taken place" with the ECB, noting that a spokesman from the national board - when contacted by BBC Sport on Wednesday - had said: "It's the first I've heard of it."

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This is good news for cricket fans. I remember many of my pals were very disappointed when they could not get a ticket for this year's World Twenty20 final at Lord's

Waz's Left Arm

The Olympic Stadium will have 80,000 seats when the games comes to London, and though that number will probably be reduced after the Games, Lord's could lose its position as the biggest cricket ground in the country.

The famous old ground in St John's Wood has a capacity of 30,000, and that is unlikely to go beyond around 40,000 at the most in the foreseeable future.

Bradshaw said: "The MCC is determined to retain its intimate, traditional character. We are a ground and not a stadium, and no one here wants that to change.

"Spectators come to Lord's for everything from the picnics in the Coronation Garden to the thrill of watching players on the hallowed turf follow in the footsteps of Grace, Bradman and Compton."

Meanwhile, the LDA says it has also contacted two counties about taking on the stadium after 2012, although the four most obvious candidates - Surrey, Middlesex, Essex and Kent - deny they have been approached.

Of them, only Kent sound positive about the idea, with chief executive Paul Millman telling Cricinfo: "We haven't been approached but we'd be happy to look at imaginative proposals if they were put forward.

"Kent has a large catchment area that extends into London, and there is a huge opportunity at present to build on the success and interest in Twenty20 cricket."