All the profits from recent turf sale at Lord's - amounting to £35,000 - are to be invested in youth cricket by MCC.

The money is being given to the MCC Foundation, which will then distribute it to a variety of applicants.

Announcing the news, the MCC President, Sir Tim Rice, said:

"MCC is committed to increasing the number of children who are introduced to cricket, for the long-term good of the game.

In recent years, we have introduced several important initiatives to promote cricket to young people. They are working well, but we want to go further.

Accordingly, the profits from selling the old surface at Lord's - totalling £35,000 - will be put into cricket's grassroots, through the MCC Foundation.

I am sure it will fund plenty of excellent projects which, together, will encourage more youngsters to develop a life-long interest in cricket".

Other MCC initiatives to promote youth cricket include: 'Kids 4 Free' (which enables children to attend certain county matches at Lord's without charge); the Buxton Water MCC Cricket Challenge (which takes cricket into primary schools); and 'Final for a Fiver' (under which children have been able to attend the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy Final for just £5).

Turf from the old outfield at Lord's was sold to cricket-lovers in early September.

It had been removed in the first stages of MCC's £1 million-plus project to install a new, faster-draining outfield at Lord's.

This project will reduce the amount of playing time lost to bad weather - to the relief of players and spectators alike - from 2003 onwards

© MCC