On Thursday 21 March, more than 600 guests will occupy the Nursery Pavilion at Lord's to attend the first MCC Cowdrey Lecture featuring multiple keynote speakers in its history.
This year's event will showcase stars from BBC's popular cricket podcast, Tailenders.
Jimmy Anderson, Greg James, and Felix White will host an evening of entertaining cricket chat and discussion. They will be joined on stage by special guests Stuart Broad and Isa Guha. Mark Nicholas, the President of MCC, who invited the Tailenders stars to lead the show, will also feature in it. The idea was put forward by Lord Cowdrey's grandson, Charlie Cowdrey.
MCC Member tickets were distributed via a ballot, which is now closed. The show can only be watched online via MCC's YouTube and Facebook channels, as it was one of the most oversubscribed ballots in the event's history.
The MCC Cowdrey Lecture, also known as the 'Spirit of Cricket Lecture', is an annual event in the cricketing calendar. It was established in memory of Colin Cowdrey (later Lord Cowdrey), the former England captain who co-authored the Spirit of Cricket - a guide for fair play that was later included as the official preamble to the Laws of Cricket.
Guha, the former England bowler who played in and won the 2009 ICC Women's World Cup in Australia, is a prominent cricket commentator and sports broadcaster. Isa will join previously announced special guest Stuart Broad on stage with the Tailenders.
The event follows the highly successful recent run of Tailenders Live shows across the country. The podcast has over 2.5 million listeners on BBC Sounds and is one of the most listened-to cricket podcasts.
As usual, the Cowdrey Lecture will be live-streamed on MCC's YouTube and Facebook channels, enabling cricket supporters worldwide to access each unique oration. Past keynote speakers have included Richie Benaud, Clive Lloyd, Imran Khan, and Kumar Sangakkara. Greg James and Felix White will join Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Stephen Fry as the only non-cricketing speakers to take the stage.