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Cowdrey Lecture

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.

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.

List of all lectures till date

YearLecturerCountry of LecturerFlagKey MessagePanel
2001Richie BenaudAustraliaAustraliaNo known recording. Manuscript available on the Lord's official website.
2002Barry RichardsSouth AfricaSouth Africa
2003Sunil GavaskarIndiaIndia
2004Clive LloydWest IndiesWest Indies
2005Geoffrey BoycottEnglandEngland
2006Martin CroweNew ZealandNew Zealand
2007Christopher Martin-JenkinsEnglandEngland
2008url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/cricket/archbishop-desmond-tutu-gets-standing-313325title=Archbishop Desmond Tutu gets standing ovation after cricket lecturewebsite=www.mirror.co.uklanguage=enaccess-date=2018-08-08}}South AfricaSouth AfricaRacism and sports, apartheid, impact of sports on politics, Spirit of Cricket
2009Adam GilchristAustraliaAustralia
2010Imran KhanPakistanPakistanHis struggles to introduce neutral umpires in cricket
2011url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/jul/05/the-spin-kumar-sangakkara/title=SANGAKKARA AND THE SPIRIT OF CRICKETwebsite=www.theguardian.comlanguage=enaccess-date=2018-08-08}}Sri LankaSri LankaThe history of Sri Lankan cricket, Spirit of Cricket, socio-cultural impact of cricket.Mark Nicholas, Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Holding, Andrew Strauss
2012Tony GreigEnglandEngland
2013Simon TaufelAustraliaAustralia
2014Sir Ian BothamEnglandEngland
2015Rod MarshAustraliaAustraliaMark Nicholas, Alastair Cook, Mahela Jayawardene
2016Brendon McCullumNew ZealandNew ZealandRespecting the opposition, running out Muttiah Muralitharan, retirement, becoming test captain, the death of Phillip HughesMark Nicholas, Kumar Sangakkara, Eoin Morgan, Brendon McCullum
2017Brian LaraWest IndiesWest IndiesMark Nicholas, Jonny Bairstow, Anya Shrubsole
2018Dave RichardsonSouth AfricaSouth AfricaSpirit 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
2019Mike BrearleyEnglandEnglandSpirit of Cricket, the Mankad dismissal, what makes a good captain, the Cricket World Cup 2019Mark Nicholas, Shane Warne, Mike Brearley, Kumar Sangakkara
2021Stephen FryEnglandEngland
2023Andrew StraussEnglandEnglandAngus Fraser, Tammy Beaumont, Jonny Bairstow
2024Stars of Tailenders podcastEnglandEngland
2025Stars of Test Match SpecialEnglandEngland"[L]ight-hearted cricket discussion"
    • Denotes Lecturers who received standing ovations from the audience.

Notable facts

  • Desmond Tutu and Stephen Fry are the only non cricketing personalities to have ever delivered a Cowdrey lecture.
  • Desmond Tutu, Kumar Sangakkara and Stephen Fry are the only personalities to have received a standing ovation for their speech.
  • Kumar Sangakkara was the first, and as of 2025, the only active international cricketer to deliver the Cowdrey lecture.
  • The event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Lecturers by country

FlagCountryNumber of lecturers
EnglandEngland7
AustraliaAustralia4
South AfricaSouth Africa3
New ZealandNew Zealand2
West IndiesWest Indies2
IndiaIndia1
PakistanPakistan1
Sri LankaSri Lanka1

References

References

  1. "MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture".
  2. "Archbishop Desmond Tutu gets standing ovation after cricket lecture".
  3. "SANGAKKARA AND THE SPIRIT OF CRICKET".
  4. "The Brendon McCullum 2016 Cowdrey Lecture Transcript".
  5. (2016-06-06). "Brendon McCullum on respecting the opposition {{!}} 2016 Cowdrey Lecture". [[Lord's Cricket Ground]].
  6. (2016-06-06). "Brendon McCullum on running out Murali {{!}} 2016 Cowdrey Lecture". [[Lord's Cricket Ground]].
  7. (2016-06-06). "Brendon McCullum on retirement {{!}} 2016 Cowdrey Lecture". [[Lord's Cricket Ground]].
  8. (2016-06-07). "Brendon McCullum part 2 - Becoming Test captain & New Zealand cricket {{!}} 2016 Cowdrey Lecture". [[Lord's Cricket Ground]].
  9. (2016-06-07). "Brendon McCullum part 3 - The death of Phil Hughes {{!}} 2016 Cowdrey Lecture". [[Lord's Cricket Ground]].
  10. (2 July 2021). "BBC’s Test Match Special stars to host 2025 MCC Cowdrey Lecture {{!}} Lord's".
  11. "Cowdrey Lecture {{!}} MCC".
Info: Wikipedia Source

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annual-events-in-london british-lecture-series cricket-culture marylebone-cricket-club 2001-establishments-in-england recurring-events-established-in-2001
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