Lord's set for a facelift

Lord's, cricket's most famous ground, is set for a 200 million pounds redevelopment, owners the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) announced on Wednesday.

Over the next 10 years, five of the northwest London's ground's stands will be redeveloped, though not the 120-year old pavilion, which is a listed building.

Other plans include the building of a hotel, private apartments, a new academy and the installation of floodlights and all come after a series of consultations with the club's 22,000 full and associate members.

"Nearly half of MCC's membership responded and there was overwhelming backing to support the improvement of Lord's for future generations of cricketers, cricket fans and of course members," David Batts, MCC's Masterplan project director said on the ground's Web site www.lords.org.

"To achieve this we are in the process of appointing a Masterplan architect who will be tasked with preparing a development plan which will provide an overall approach to the design and layout for the entire Lord's site.

"MCC are wary of maintaining the unique atmosphere of Lord's and as such remain sensitive that the revamp will not cost the ground in character -- the tiny Allen Stand has housed spectators since 1935 while the Warner Stand is 50 years old."

The MCC has made major improvements to the ground in the last 20 years, with the Compton and Edrich Stands both completely rebuilt in the 1990s and the landmark media centre added in 1999.

At the end of the redevelopment, the ground's capacity, currently 28,000, should exceed 38,000.

Funding will come from the sale of debentures and the apartments.

The ground is owned by the MCC, a private club which still has a major influence on the sport despite handing over most of its official functions to the International Cricket Council and the England and Wales Cricket Board in recent years.

Lord's is also the base for Middlesex County Cricket Club and a regular host of test matches and all major English limited overs competition finals.

It also hosted the finals of the first three cricket World Cups in 1975, 1979 and 1983 and again in 1999.