13 July,2010 07:10 AM IST | | Khalid A-H Ansari
The historic Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) will break new ground in its 223-year old history when today's Australia-Pakistan Test at Lord's will be sponsored under its Spirit of Cricket banner.
MCC's sponsorship of Pakistan cricket comes at a time when security concerns prevent that nation from playing their matches at home.
At a function to announce the sponsorship, MCC's chief executive Keith Bradshaw said: "We always speak about Test cricket being the pinnacle of the game and we're acting to back up those words with action".
He pointed out that the Indian Premier League (IPL) also binds its players to the Spirit of Cricket's precept of "Play hard, Play fair."
Giles Clarke, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board said: "Pakistan are welcome to continue playing matches in England while security problems persist at home".
The Test and Twenty20 series will be known as the "MCC Spirit of Cricket Test Series" and "MCC International Twenty20 Series" respectively.
Following the two Twenty20 matches at Edgbaston played on July 5 and 6, Tests in the two-game series will be played at Lord's between July 13 and 17 and at Headingley between July 21 and 25.
