At present, MCC and the ECB are each insured for £30 million in claims, but members could face unlimited liability if the £60 million figure proves to be insufficient to cover payouts and negligence is proven against MCC. Nigel Knott, who has been pursuing the issue for a number of years and has tried unsuccessfully to win a place on the MCC committee, likened the position of members to the names at Lloyds, the insurers, who suffered heavy losses.

A minute’s silence was observed before the NatWest Challenge match between England and Australia, and the flags of both countries, as well as the MCC standard, flew at half-mast. There was a distinctly muted atmosphere at the beginning of play, with an extra presence of police, stewards and sniffer dogs, and the mood was not improved by England’s poor start.

Most of the crowd of about 28,000 had followed MCC advice to arrive well before the 10.45am start to allow for stringent bag and body searches. Staff were also checked as they entered the ground. Spectators queued tolerantly and there were huge cheers in late afternoon for a fly-past by Second World War aircraft, celebrating the end of that conflict 60 years ago. Security will be just as tight for the final Challenge match at the Oval tomorrow.

England have asked for more time before agreeing to play in Karachi during the Pakistan tour this winter. The Pakistan Cricket Board wants to stage back-to-back one-day internationals in the city, which has suffered from terrorist attacks in the recent past, but the ECB is reluctant to play there more than once. Players have been guaranteed “head-of-state level” security at all venues.

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