MCC have discussed renaming London Spirit and having them play in the club’s egg-and-bacon colours with their new Silicon Valley co-owners.
MCC will enter into a joint-venture with Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, a consortium of US-based entrepreneurs who have been dubbed the “Tech Titans”, to run the Lord’s-based Hundred franchise from 2026. They were the highest bidders at a three-hour auction on January 31, which eventually valued London Spirit at £295 million, by far the highest of any of the eight Hundred teams.
The two parties have been speaking for several months and have extended those discussions over the past two weeks during their period of exclusivity. “We already have a very good understanding of our respective positions on most of the important matters which will govern our partnership,” Mark Nicholas, MCC’s chair, said in a letter to members on Friday.
These have included discussions around the name of the franchise and their royal-blue kits. “Both parties have maintained an open mind on whether or not to continue with the London Spirit name,” Nicholas said. Any changes to team names or kits would not take place until 2026, with this year’s Hundred seen by the ECB as a transitional season.
“There are advantages in using the name of the club, MCC; the name of the ground, Lord’s; and the name of our home city, London; the latter may give us the greatest traction as we look to grow the franchise and its brand,” Nicholas said.
“Team colours have also been the subject of discussion and we are leaning towards using MCC colours in the livery. On both name and kit, we will take decisions alongside our new partners. It should be pointed out also that these decisions will need ECB approval.”
Nikesh Arora, who is leading the consortium, has also hinted at a change of colour scheme. “All decisions will be taken in the interests of the franchise, collectively with our partners at the MCC,” Arora told the BBC. “If the right answer collectively is, ‘Hey, a little more red or a little more yellow might make it more exciting’, then fine: we’ll have a little more red and a little more yellow.”
Nicholas reiterated MCC’s intention to retain their 51% stake in the franchise, and said that four of the team’s seven board members would be MCC-appointed directors, one of whom is likely to be the chief executive.
