LONDON, July 20: Lord’s officials are worried that the prestigious ground could lose one of the two Test matches it traditionally hosts each British summer. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which runs Lord’s, has to apply to stage future Tests, like every other venue in England and Wales. But despite being known as the home of cricket as well as the biggest and most lucrative venue, the MCC officials are worried Lord’s will miss out as more venues receive the Test status.

“Potentially, you have more grounds competing for a smaller number of Tests,” the MCC spokesman Iain Wilton said on Friday. “We want to make sure that in terms of facilities and capacity and economics we can put forward a very good case for Lord’s keeping its current share of the fixtures.”

But the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has shown it is willing to try new venues by giving Sophia Gardens in Cardiff one of the lucrative Ashes Tests in 2009.

That’s the first time the Welsh capital will stage a Test, and it was chosen over established grounds such as Old Trafford, Chester-le-Street and the Rose Bowl.

“We’d like to think the facilities here are as good as anywhere if not better, but we need to make a very attractive case to the ECB for us to continue staging the number of major matches that we currently do,”

Wilton said. “That’s one of the reasons why we’re looking at capacity increases, which would allow more people into the ground for major matches.”

The MCC is planning a 100million-pound redevelopment of Lord’s, but that will not be finished before 2009.

A recent report into the state of English cricket also recommended that England plays six, rather than seven, home Tests each British summer.

The MCC Secretary Keith Bradshaw said taking Tests away from Lord’s would not just affect the ground’s finances.

“This would also adversely affect the ECB, who would receive a lower income from gate receipts from other grounds with lower capacities and would also suffer through getting less people to visit one of their showcase events,” Bradshaw told Friday’s edition of The Times.

The ECB declined to comment on talks with the MCC, saying negotiations were always confidential.—AP