The Cowdrey Lecture, also referred to as the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture, is an annual event organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's Cricket Ground.

The event was first hosted in 2001, following the death of its eponym Late Lord Colin Cowdrey, in December 2000. Colin Cowdrey is reported to have been instrumental in adapting the Captains' Charter as the Spirit of Cricket and subsequently adding it as the preamble to the Laws of Cricket.[1]

It is held annually during the English summer and is delivered by pre-eminent cricketing personalities. The event is an invite only affair, with high-profile cricketing personalities, représentatives of cricketing boards and journalists in attendance. The format of the event is simple: the Cowdrey Lecture followed by an informal discussion/question-answer session with a panel of distinguished personalities.[1]

List of all lectures till date

Cowdrey Lecturers, chronologically since inception.
Year Lecturer Country of Lecturer Flag Key Message Panel
2001 Richie Benaud Australia Australia No known recording. Manuscript available on the Lord's official website.
2002 Barry Richards South Africa South Africa
2003 Sunil Gavaskar India India
2004 Clive Lloyd West Indies Cricket West Indies
2005 Geoffrey Boycott England England
2006 Martin Crowe New Zealand New Zealand
2007 Christopher Martin-Jenkins England England
2008 Desmond Tutu*[2] South Africa South Africa Racism and sports, apartheid, impact of sports on politics, Spirit of Cricket
2009 Adam Gilchrist Australia Australia
2010 Imran Khan Pakistan Pakistan His struggles to introduce neutral umpires in cricket
2011 Kumar Sangakkara*[3] Sri Lanka Sri Lanka The history of Sri Lankan cricket, Spirit of Cricket, socio-cultural impact of cricket. Mark Nicholas, Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Holding, Andrew Strauss
2012 Tony Greig England England
2013 Simon Taufel Australia Australia
2014 Sir Ian Botham England England
2015 Rod Marsh Australia Australia Mark Nicholas, Alastair Cook, Mahela Jayawardene
2016 Brendon McCullum[4] New Zealand New Zealand Respecting the opposition,[5] running out Muttiah Muralitharan,[6] retirement,[7] becoming test captain,[8] the death of Phillip Hughes[9] Mark Nicholas, Kumar Sangakkara, Eoin Morgan, Brendon McCullum
2017 Brian Lara West Indies Cricket West Indies Mark Nicholas, Jonny Bairstow, Anya Shrubsole
2018 Dave Richardson South Africa South Africa Spirit of Cricket, Code of conduct, ball tampering incident of Newlands, Women's Cricket, Player penalties and punishments. Mark Nicholas, Dave Richardson, Sanjay Manjrekar, Jason Roy
2019 Mike Brearley England England Spirit of Cricket, the Mankad dismissal, what makes a good captain, the Cricket World Cup 2019 Mark Nicholas, Shane Warne, Mike Brearley, Kumar Sangakkara
2021 Stephen Fry England England
2023 Andrew Strauss England England Angus Fraser, Tammy Beaumont, Jonny Bairstow

* - Denotes Lecturers who received standing ovations from the audience.

Notable facts

Lecturers by country

Flag Country Number of lecturers
Australia Australia 4
England England 7
South Africa South Africa 3
Cricket West Indies West Indies 2
New Zealand New Zealand 2
India India 1
Pakistan Pakistan 1
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 1

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture". Lord's. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Archbishop Desmond Tutu gets standing ovation after cricket lecture". www.mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 "SANGAKKARA AND THE SPIRIT OF CRICKET". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. "The Brendon McCullum 2016 Cowdrey Lecture Transcript". www.sportsfreak.co.nz. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  5. Brendon McCullum on respecting the opposition | 2016 Cowdrey Lecture. Lord's Cricket Ground. 6 June 2016. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2021 via YouTube.
  6. Brendon McCullum on running out Murali | 2016 Cowdrey Lecture. Lord's Cricket Ground. 6 June 2016. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021 via YouTube.
  7. Brendon McCullum on retirement | 2016 Cowdrey Lecture. Lord's Cricket Ground. 6 June 2016. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2021 via YouTube.
  8. Brendon McCullum part 2 - Becoming Test captain & New Zealand cricket | 2016 Cowdrey Lecture. Lord's Cricket Ground. 7 June 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2021 via YouTube.
  9. Brendon McCullum part 3 - The death of Phil Hughes | 2016 Cowdrey Lecture. Lord's Cricket Ground. 7 June 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2021 via YouTube.
  10. "Cowdrey Lecture | MCC". www.lords.org. Retrieved 30 September 2021.

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