MCC rules out rescuing crisis club Middlesex after Gatting’s damning letter

• No business case for offering financial assistance

• Former players said county ‘drifting towards irrelevance’

The MCC has ruled out buying or investing in Middlesex as their long-term tenants at Lord’s begin another season in a state of crisis.

A group of distinguished former players led by ex-England captain Mike Gatting has called on chairman Richard Sykes to stand down due to poor performances on the field and long-standing financial and governance problems, with an open letter published yesterday claiming that Middlesex are “drifting towards irrelevance.”