Lord's naming rights row as cricket bosses are forced to deny £400m sell-off

The owners of Lord's cricket ground have been forced to deny claims they plan to sell its naming rights in a radical makeover of the famous 195-year-old ground.
Called Vision for Lord’s, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which runs the north London ground, is planning to fund the £400million redevelopment by building flats around the periphery.
Five of its stands would be rebuilt and flats would be erected around the perimeter to help fund the transformation of the home of cricket. Estate agents in the expensive St Johns Wood area estimate they could sell for £1.2million each.
However, the MCC firmly denied today that the Lord's name could ever be replaced by that of a corporate sponsor as part of the makeover.

'I just want to reassure people that there's no way we would rename Lord's', MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw told the BBC.
'It's the home of cricket, the hallowed turf. It's not an option at all.
'It's something that we wouldn't consider, and in fact I even have a real problem even considering renaming the stands within the ground that are now dedicated to famous cricketers.
'It's not on the agenda, it's not on the cards and there's no way we'll be going down that path.'
He had been quoted in the Times today as saying that exploiting naming rights was 'obviously an option.'
He was adamant the traditions of the home of cricket are more important than the generation of revenue.
Renaming sport stadiums in lucrative deals with corporate sponsors is nothing new.
Airline Emirates struck a £100million deal with Arsenal in 2004, half of which was for the naming rights on the Emirates Stadium for 15 years. The other half was for an eight-year shirt sponsorship.
And Chelsea claim they want to team up with a suitable 'blue-chip' company to rename the famous old stadium, originally built in 1876 and which has always been home to the club.
Newcastle United fans were outraged last month when their beloved ground was renamed sportsdirect.com@St James' Park by the club's owner, Mike Ashley.

The redevelopment plans, which will be submitted to Westminster City Council after they are approved approval by MCC members, will involve the demolition of Victorian housing behind the pavilion and create an underground cricket academy, bigger museum and brasserie.
Lord’s is also the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The MCC museum there has the priceless Ashes urn as its prize exhibit.
The ground hosts England Test matches, one-day internationals and most of Middlesex’s home games.
There are also historic fixtures including the Oxford versus Cambridge university game and the national village team final.