London Spirit appoint Morgan to Board of Directors following long association with Lord’s through Middlesex and the Hundred.
The ‘Tech Titans’, the new co-owners of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), will sit with Eoin Morgan on the board of directors of London Spirit, representing the interests of Lord’s owners.
The ‘Tech Titans’, formerly known as Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, are a group of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs under the direction of Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora. Earlier this year, they paid £144 million for a 49% share in London Spirit, and following extensive contract discussions, the deal is anticipated to be approved shortly.
MCC will continue to hold a 51 percent stake in the business, and the Spirit board will reflect their status as main partners. With the appointment of the remaining three directors by their new joint venture partners, they will hold four of the seven board seats.
Morgan, who has a long history with Lord’s dating back to his early days at Middlesex, captained London Spirit’s team in the first two seasons of the Hundred. His new position with London Spirit is the consequence of his experience and understanding of franchise cricket, and he was recently approved as the MCC’s new chair of cricket, succeeding former England batter Claire Taylor.
In addition, MCC has named incoming committee member Julian Metherell and Rob Lawson, its chief executive and secretary, to the London Spirit board; however, they have not yet selected a final director. Metherell played a pivotal part in the investment process, and chair Mark Nicholas personally congratulated him for his contribution to the post-Titans investment negotiations.
Following lengthy talks over important documents, such as the participation agreement with the ECB, the eight hundred deals are on the verge of approval.
The defending Hundred champions, London Spirit’s women’s team, have also announced a change in leadership. Chris Liddle will take Ashley Noffke’s place as head coach, while Charlie Dean will take over as captain in place of Heather Knight, who is out due to injury. Kira Chathli, who was a member of the 2022 Oval Invincibles team that won the title, will replace Knight, the former England captain, in the group as a guide.