MCC considers fast-tracking women members

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) will consider fast-tracking memberships for women to address a gender imbalance.

The idea is one of several put forward in a consultation paper circulated to members before the club's forthcoming Annual General Meeting, and seen by BBC Sport.

The MCC voted to allow women to join the club in 1998 having been an all-male preserve for more than two centuries.

At that time the club's committee said there would be no fast tracking of women's members but have offered the possibility of a U-turn.

The MCC said in the document on membership gender diversity that the "lack of progress in female membership since then" makes the approach "worthy of reconsideration".

It also suggested that with just 3.2% of the club's full members being women it could be a barrier to future sponsorship revenues.

"Sponsors in sport are looking at how they can speak to men and women alike and the lack of diversity in the membership could influence this in the coming years," the paper said.

In June 2023, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) said in its report that the MCC had a pivotal role to play in eradicating sexism from the game.

Sources at the MCC told BBC Sport last year it was "frankly ridiculous" that so few members are women and the issue is one the club must "meet head on".

The possibility of shortening the waiting time for female members is among the solutions to be discussed by the club and its members during a consultation process between May and July.

Any change to the club's membership policy would require the approval of two-thirds of existing members to be implemented and the notion of 'queue jumping' on a 30-year waiting list is likely to have detractors.

Though an exact target for female membership has not yet been agreed, last year's AGM proposed a goal for 20% of full members to be women in 10 years' time.

At the current rate of progression, it would take another 35 years for that target to be reached.

The other potential strategies alongside accelerating female memberships include increasing the overall membership numbers, reforming the pipeline of potential members and expanding the women's playing programme.

Mark Nicholas, the MCC chair, said in covering notes in the document that it will be "more difficult" for the club to "maintain our relevance in cricket" if the membership remains "unrepresentative of the gender make-up of the wider cricketing community".

The MCC has already stepped up efforts to increase the number of women among its playing members - essentially a way for candidates to fast-track themselves to membership by representing the club in fixtures.