CRICKETING chiefs have categorically denied they are considering selling the naming rights to Lord's.

Rumours that a £400million redevelopment of the stadium would involve inviting bids to rename it have been quashed by MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw.

He said: "I just want to reassure people that there's no way we would rename Lord's. It's the home of cricket, the hallowed turf. It's not an option at all.

"It's something that we wouldn't consider, and in fact I even have a real problem even considering renaming the stands within the ground that are now dedicated to famous cricketers.

"It's not on the agenda, it's not on the cards and there's no way we'll be going down that path."

The redevelopment plans will part-funded by flats around the stadium, but the MCC insists it will not even look at selling rights for individual stands. 

Bradshaw was adamant that the traditions of the home of cricket are more important than the generation of revenue.

"To play at Lord's is a very special experience, Lord's has such a wonderful history and tradition and it's those traditions that we need to preserve," he added.

"The stands are named after Compton and Edrich and Warner. They're very famous names and I couldn't see the day, certainly in my time, when we'd want to be naming them after a sponsor.

"I do feel to a degree that would be selling our soul.

"We have so much to offer at Lord's and I think it's about protecting our history for the future. Whatever we do in terms of the vision, it's cricket-led, it's not commercial-led.

"We want Lord's to continue to be the best ground in the world and we believe that we need to move with the times and make some developments, but keep that ambience and the things that make it very special to come to Lord's.

"What we plan to do is increase the capacity of the ground, we'd like to have more spectators coming in and be able to watch cricket.

"It's a vision for the future that includes cricket academy, state-of-the-art facilities, both for members and for the general public."

Lord's first hosted a Test match when England beat Australia by an innings and five runs in July 1884.