The Marylebone Cricket Club, owner of Lord's, is investigating the merits of drop-in pitches "with the view of installing them" at the venue dubbed "the home of cricket," according to Andrew Wu of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Officials from the MCC are "on a fact-finding mission in Australia" and will speak to officials from the Adelaide Oval and the Melbourne Cricket Ground about their experiences with drop-ins. The "famous slope" at Lord's would be retained if the MCC, established in 1814, was to take the "bold step away from a traditional wicket." The news will "come as a shock to the game's traditionalists," though it is not the first time the issue has been discussed by the world's oldest cricket club. The issue was discussed at a two-day meeting of the MCC's World Cricket Committee, chaired by former England captain Mike Gatting and MCC Head of Cricket John Stephenson. The MCC, which unlike the MCG and Adelaide Oval does not stage other sports at Lord's, is "looking at ways to handle the large volumes of cricket staged at the ground and to keep its top-class games on the central pitches" (SMH, 1/11).
