The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has announced that three new members have joined its World Cricket Committee (WCC), which will be meeting next week in Dubai for the first time this year.
Former Australia batter Justin Langer, former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and former England women's captain Clare Connor have joined the WCC, which is an independent body comprised of current and former international cricketers, umpires, and officials from across the world.
“Former MCC President Connor was part of WCC discussions during her time in office at Lord’s and has now joined the WCC on a permanent basis. The former England captain, who led her country to a first women’s Ashes triumph in 42 years in 2005, has most recently been acting as interim Chief Executive at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and previously, Managing Director of women’s cricket,” the MCC said in a press release.
“Langer, an opening batter who played over 100 Tests for Australia in one of the great sides of the modern era, was Head Coach of the men’s team from 2018 until 2022 and led the side to retain the Ashes in a memorable series in England in 2019. Australia won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup under his guidance in 2021, before going on to defeat England in the Ashes on home soil.
“Another opener who enjoyed more than a century of Tests for his country, Smith became South Africa’s youngest captain when he was handed the role at the age of 22. He was appointed South Africa’s Director of Cricket shortly after he retired from the game in 2014, and last year became Commissioner of the SA20, a league which has been enjoying early success in its inaugural tournament this year.”
The next meeting of the WCC will be held on Sunday 12 and Monday 13 February at the ICC headquarters in Dubai. The agenda of the meeting is to discuss what the game will look like across the next decade, including wealth distribution and playing schedules.
It must be noted that, after the last meeting at Lord’s in July, Tim May and Vince van der Bijl both stepped down from the committee, having served for the maximum length of time.