Lord’s Cricket Ground has relaxed its notoriously strict dress code rules on compulsory jacket wear as torrid temperatures reach 35C in the UK, allowing gentlemen to remove the garment in the pavilion.
Not even the home of cricket has been spared from the scorching grasp of one of the UK's hotest summers on record, which could see the country's all-time temperature record of 38.5C (101.3F) surpassed in the coming weeks.
Accordingly, all visitors to Lord's in St. John's Wood, London, were afforded the spiffing luxury of being able to remove their blazers in the pavilion for Middlesex CC's T20 match versus Sussex, including members of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns the venue.
The home of cricket posted on Twitter: “Due to the abnormally warm temperatures, MCC has decided to dispense with requirement for gentlemen to wear jackets in the Pavilion and arrive wearing one. This applies to Members of MCC and Middlesex and their guests.”
On Tuesday, India cut short a warm-up match against Essex due to concerns about the British heatwave. India are due to begin the first of their test matches against England on August 1 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.