MCC Chief on Oris partnership & making cricket "open to everyone" as he prepares to Call Time on his position at Lord’s

As the action kicks off today at Lord’s, with the Swiss watchmaker Oris as Official Timekeeper, we share the words of Guy Lavender, speaking of the club's place in making the sport more inclusive and sustainable.

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Speaking upon the launch of the Oris Father Time Limited Edition Watch, outgoing MCC chief executive Guy Lavender shared his desire for the club to make sure cricket is "open to everyone". 

It was only earlier this month that Lavender announced his forthcoming departure from the club, which he is leaving to become CEO of Cheltenham Racecourse. One of his many achievements at MCC in recent years has been spearheading the Oris and MCC partnership, which saw the launch of the Oris Father Time Limited Edition Watch, a unique bronze version of the brand’s signature Big Crown Pointer Date, featuring a caseback engraving of the Father Time weathervane.

The famous symbol, Lavender notes is "one of the most familiar landmarks in world cricket". Limited to 1,926 pieces, the watch marks the exact year that the Father Time weathervane was gifted to Lord’s. Speaking more on the partnership, Lavender remarks: "One of the values of the Club that I know we share with Oris is our commitment to sustainability, and, specifically to us, to protect the long-term future of Lord’s and the game.

"Whether you play it, watch it, listen to it or work in it, there should be no barriers to participating in the game’, says Lavender, who speaks of his pride at the club's community work, which includes elderly people who attend dementia sessions or play walking cricket at Lord’s, and schoolchildren who benefit from free cricket coaching programmes in our local schools. "Cricket is a game that encourages friendship and teamwork, and unifies people from all walks of life," he adds. "Ultimately, we want everything we do to be for the good of the game and to ensure cricket is a sport future generations will love as much as they do in the present and did in the past," he said.

"Making cricket more accessible to more people is something the game has to tackle as a whole but our specific focus is for Lord’s and MCC to be more open, inclusive and welcoming.

"I truly believe that sport is a vehicle for bringing people together and not dividing them.

"Our equality, diversity and inclusion work tackles the exclusions or barriers that exist through positive initiatives, applying forward thinking, and using new ideas that will deliver lasting change in this critical area."

It’s fitting then that Lavender chose the Swiss watchmaker Oris to partner with the MCC as its first official timekeeper in the 236-year history of Lord's. The brands share a commitment to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which encourage local, social and environmental action to deliver global change. Together, they’ve also co-hosted an Oris Change for the Better Day, teaming up to collect polluting plastic waste from London’s streets. The Oris Father Time Limited Edition celebrates these united values and aptly comes with a light brown leather strap made from sustainably sourced deer leather produced by the brand’s Swiss partner Cervo Volante. 

On sustainability, Lavender comments: "Cricket is so exposed to the effects of climate change that we simply have to act now to protect it. We also have the responsibility to ensure that our home, Lord’s, is as environmentally friendly and sustainable as it possibly can be.

"We’ve been working on this for a number of years and were one of the first sporting clubs in the world to hire a full-time sustainability manager back in 2009.

"Since then, we’ve introduced a number of measures to reduce our carbon footprint including operating on 100 per cent renewable electricity since 2016, with all electricity sourced from wind power; reducing single-use plastics by 1.5 million pieces; and our recycling programmes have resulted in zero waste going to landfills since 2010.

Most recently, we signed up to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and published our strategy to become carbon neutral by 2030 and to have net zero emissions by 2040 by undertaking a significant programme of de-gasification at Lord’s, and switching the use of remaining natural gas in the operation of the venue to renewable energy sources."

To take a look at the Oris Father Time Limited Edition watch, visit Oris’s official website. Alternatively, visit the Oris Boutique in London on South Molton Street and quote ‘The Cricketer’ to unlock a special gift with purchase.

Oris are a proud partner of MCC and the first Official Timekeeper of Lord’s. 

Oris Boutique London - 41 South Molton Street, London W1K 5RP