IF ULTIMATE proof were needed that we live in a shrinking yet more broad-minded world, the appointment by MCC yesterday of an Australian as the club’s new secretary has surely provided it. There have been several England captains born overseas, the counties are littered with foreign coaches and Duncan Fletcher has only just been offered his British citizenship, but somehow the senior executive position of the most famous, influential and to some extent exclusive club in the world seems like the final frontier.
It was beaten down with the utmost gentility yesterday by Keith Bradshaw, the 42-year-old former Tasmania cricketer whose subsequent career as a successful chartered accountant earned him preference as Roger Knight’s successor over a strong field. When Knight retires in October, he will take charge of the management of Lord’s, a wide range of cricket from Test matches to almost 500 games a year against schools and clubs, and a turnover of £23 million.
Bradshaw, who will be only the fourteenth secretary of MCC since 1822, was the candidate who best filled the credentials of cricketing and business expertise. One of the MCC selection committee of three which made the final recommendation to the committee said last night: “We needed someone who will not only be financially savvy but completely at home when talking cricket with ex-Test players.”
Bradshaw captained Tasmania at times in the absence of David Boon on international duty and had a season on a cricket scholarship at Sussex in 1986. He said yesterday that one of his great ambitions had always been to play at Lord’s and he might yet achieve it. “I am determined,” he added, “to play my part in maintaining MCC’s values, upholding its traditions and continuing to improve Lord’s. It is the spiritual home of world cricket and MCC works for the good of the game right across the globe.”