On Wednesday, the owner of the Lord’s Ground, MCC announced in a press release that it recommended former Sri-Lankan Captain Kumar Sangakkara to serve the club for a second time as a president.
The former wicket-keeper took the office in October 2019 to become the first non-British president of the guardian of the Laws of the game for the next one year. However, in wake of the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ arising due to COVID-19 pandemic, the club decided to offer a second term to former Sri Lankan Captain.
“The disruption to the global cricketing landscape caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 Coronavirus has led the Committee to recommend that Sangakkara, who began his term of office on 1 October 2019, be invited to serve as President of the Club until 30 September 2021,” the MCC said in a release.
Longer Presidential tenure, not unprecedented
While Kumar Sangakkara will become the first non-British president to serve the club longer than a year, the MCC said that it’s not an unprecedented move since during the First and Second World Wars, Lord Hawke (1914-18) and Stanley Christopherson (1939-45) served for longer periods.
“The motion will need to be approved by the Club’s Members at the Annual General Meeting, which has been rescheduled to 24 June.
The former Sri Lanka Captain remained an active member of the club since he joined the MCC’s world cricket committee in 2012, the same year when he was awarded Honorary Life Membership.
He had also led the club in a seminal tour of Pakistan early this year to encourage international teams to visit Pakistan to play cricket.
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