Lord’s the home of English cricket was granted permission to construct two new stands by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

It will replace the existing Compton and Edrich stands and increase the stadium capacity to 31,000 as it was announced on Wednesday.

The new three-tier stands, which are to be built at the Stadium’s Nursery End, will cost about 50 million pounds ($64.37 million). The MCC revealed the newly developed stands will improve the spectators’ sightlines and offer other facilities like integrated catering, wheelchair accessible spaces and lift access to all levels.

“We are excited to start another transformational development at the Lord’s and by raising the capacity to 31 000 we will be able to welcome more spectators to enjoy the matches at the largest cricket ground in the country”, the MCC chief executive and secretary Guy Lavender told.

MCC insists the development will remain “consistent with the overall architectural identity of the Lord’s” and the “village cricket green ethos”, while improving the “overall harmony of the north-east end of the cricket ground”.

Construction will begin on 24th August 2019 after England’s second Ashes test against Australia and the one-off Test against Ireland.

Loading