MCC team to tour Belgium

A Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) squad will tomorrow begin a tour of Belgium - where cricket was first played in 1815, between British Army officers before the Battle of Waterloo.

The fifteen-strong squad will be led by Chinmay Gupte. It also includes Stuart Ransley (an MCC Young Cricketer) and Gareth James (a student at one of the six MCC Universities - Cambridge).

The week-long tour will include coaching sessions and four fixtures - starting on Saturday (with a match against a Cricket Vlaanderen XI in Gent) and culminating, next Thursday, in a game against the Belgian National Select XI (at the Royal Brussels Cricket Club).

Belgium is the fifth of eight countries that will be toured this year by MCC which, with an annual programme of over 500 matches, is the world's most active cricket-playing club.

Indeed, the penultimate tour match in Belgium - a Twenty20 fixture - will be played on one of the busiest days (Wednesday 27th June) in MCC's cricket calendar. On that day, its men's and women's teams will play no fewer than fifteen matches, in venues from Antwerp to Arbroath.

MCC's Head of Cricket, John Stephenson, said:

"MCC is committed to promoting cricket - both in Britain and overseas.

Our tours play a key part in that process. As well as increasing international interest in the game, they enable emerging cricketing nations to measure their recent progress. They also provide our players with invaluable experience of different conditions and cultures.

That's why I'm particularly pleased that an increasing number of Young Cricketers and students from the MCC Universities - in whom we invest £850,0000 per year - are now taking part in our overseas tours."

Already in 2007, MCC tours have covered countries including Chile and Brazil. The Club's next tour, in the autumn, will visit Malawi and Tanzania.