Largo Cricket Club to mark 40th anniversary with game against star-studded MCC this afternoon

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) logo is seen at Lord's Cricket Ground (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

World-famous Marylebone Cricket Club will send a star-studded side to face Largo this Sunday afternoon at East Drive as part of the club’s ongoing 40th anniversary celebrations.

Led by ex-Dorset minor counties skipper and Carlton CC player Pete Deakin, MCC travel to Fife having assembled a strong Scotland-based squad featuring a number of former Scotland internationals and aged group representatives, including Fraser Watts, Stuart Davidson, Tom Simpson, Will Hardie and Ben Davidson.

Based at Lord's, which it owns, the MCC acts as custodian and arbiter of the laws and spirit of cricket.

“To be president of the club at this time is a great honour," club chief Alastair Duncan said ahead of the match, which follows on from a tie with the Forty Club earlier in the summer, and a dinner dance before that: “We are a grassroots, community club with a band of volunteers on the committee and volunteer junior coaches who all do their bit to make sure that we get teams out at senior and junior level.

“It can take a lot of work sometimes, but it is worth it when you see people enjoying themselves and building up relationships. Playing the MCC is amazing, we had to jump through a few hoops to play them and wasn’t easy but it will be worthwhile. What a match for our 40th anniversary.”

Largo started as a fun/social cricket club, but in the early 1990s they took the decision to start playing league cricket, so Largo’s senior sides joined the East of Scotland Cricket Association leagues, playing there until 2019 when they moved to the Strathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union leagues.

Current Scotland seamer Safyaan Sharif started his cricketing journey in the Largo Lions junior section at the club – whose memorable colours are red, blue and yellow – as did now Scotland rugby captain Jamie Ritchie.

Looking ahead, Largo are hoping to further upgrade East Drive – which is already a favourite of many cricket enthusiasts across the country, thanks to its stunning surroundings.

Alastair, whose father Andrew was one of the club’s founding members back in 1983, added: "As a legacy, we are starting to look into the feasibility of a pavilion refurbishment in the coming years. These are exciting times.”