MCC come under fire from their own members after club’s chairman’s resignation is REJECTED

The MCC are under fire from their own members for refusing to accept the resignation of the club’s chairman after he made a disparaging reference to them having colostomy bags at last month’s AGM. 

Sportsmail has learned that Bruce Carnegie-Brown, the chairman of Lloyd’s of London who also became chair of the MCC last September, offended some of the membership by saying ‘It is taking them ages to empty all these colostomy luggage’ during a comfort break at the Lord’s meeting on 4 May.

The ill-judged remark was picked up by a microphone and heard by members who were absent and monitoring the AGM online, which led to numerous complaints being made to the MCC Committee. Carnegie-Brown is understood to have apologised and offered his resignation, but it was rejected by the Committee, who instead suggested a donation to the charity Colostomy UK.

An MCC spokesperson told Sportsmail: ‘At the Club’s recent AGM, an unacceptable and private comment was made by our Chair, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, on returning from the short interval, which was heard by some of those Members who were listening online. An unreserved apology has been made by the Chair to those small number of Members who have contacted the Club in this regard.

‘Further to this, the MCC Committee met and reviewed all the facts and discussed the matter in detail. The comment is not a reflection of the Club’s views and the Committee has issued a formal letter of admonishment. The matter has now been dealt with and a donation has been made by the Chair to Colostomy UK.’

Meanwhile, the ECB’s interim chief executive Clare Connor has agreed to relinquish her role on several key MCC Committees after concerns about potential conflicts of interest were raised by several county chairs, as reported by Sportsmail last month. 

The former England captain will continue to serve as MCC president for the remainder of her term of office before handing over to Stephen Fry in October, but will restrict herself to ceremonial duties.

MCC Chair Bruce Carnegie-Brown wrote to members informing them of Connor’s decision to step back yesterday. 

In addition she has agreed to excuse herself from any ECB meetings where conflicts of interest could emerge, such as the allocation of major matches which could involve MCC, having already stepped down from her previous role as managing director of women’s cricket, as reported by Sportsmail.

‘[Clare] will withdraw completely from her role as a non-executive member of the MCC Committee and Principal committees for the remainder of her term as President,’ Carnegie-Brown wrote. 

‘This means that she will not attend meetings, nor will she receive any related papers or agenda. Her duties for MCC between now and 30 September will be to host and welcome the Club’s guests during our major matches and attend some key events and community projects for the Club and MCC Foundation.

‘Clare’s new role as interim Chief Executive of ECB will commence on Monday 6 June. She has agreed with ECB’s Board that she will recuse herself from discussions where there may be a conflict of interest, such as ECB’s decision-making process for the allocation of major matches to be played across England and Wales from 2024.’