After cricket, it's brand Lord's

London:

In the age of corporatisation of cricket, Lord's -- the Mecca of the sport -- is poised to sell its own brand of wine and even sun cream.

The Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns Lords, has decided to capitalise on its instantly recognisable name and the vast international popularity of cricket, according to Daily Telegraph.

"The grounds distinctive weather vane will appear on clothes and Lords branded suncream could soon find itself on shop shelves around the world," it said.

"It is understood the Ashes urn, the property of the MCC, could also become a logo used on a range of merchandise."

MCC Secretary Keith Bradshaw indicated their ambitions of becoming the world's leading brand.

"If we do this properly, we can create one of the worlds leading brands," Bradshaw was quoted as saying in the paper.

"We are competing with other major grounds and paying more to host major matches than ever. Cricket is so global now that we could link up with the cricket-playing countries and the emerging ones around the world.

"But we have to brand the home of cricket carefully. We do not want to cheapen it. Designers have been into Lords to see how we can maximise potential of each brand," he added.

The signature of Thomas Lord, after whom the ground is named, already appears on Premium 12-year-old Whisky and Premium London Dry Gin, which are both available in a few selected stores. But now there are proposals to market it on a much wider scale.

Jon Robinson, the clubs marketing manager, said, "Lords wine could be the next product and suncream, which is sold in the Lords shop, could go on sale in the big stores. We are trying to build a Lords hierarchy."