The MCC are inviting applicants to send a voice recording of themselves in the search for a new public address announcer at Lord's.

The person selected is to assist Johnny Dennis, who has covered 136 Test matches and more than 250 one-day internationals across the country since his first match in 1976. He has worked as PA announcer for Middlesex and other matches at Lord’s during this time.

The popular Dennis, an actor, reduced his duties in late 2013, and MCC have decided to hold a competition to find an assistant for him with a view to becoming a new 'voice of Lord’s'.

The winner of the competition will cover a variety of county and club matches at Lord’s in 2014, including Tests, a one-dayer against Sri Lanka, and the bicentenary match MCC v Rest of the World, featuring Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne.

As announcer, Dennis ensures he is well prepared and he does his homework on the touring sides every summer, especially Sri Lanka, when players with multi-syllable names might be involved. He even spends a few days with the team getting to know the players, perhaps sitting on the balcony with them. “I think it should be done,” he said in an interview last year. “It's courtesy to get the player right and the pronunciation right.”

Dennis admitted he fell into announcing after a chance meeting with Test Match Special commentator Brian Johnston while Dennis was playing as an off-spinner for the Lord's Taverners. The full-time announcer at the time was Alan Curtis, another actor, and the MCC needed someone to stand in at the last minute when Curtis was called away to work on a Carry On film. "It was a fluke, like a lot of things life,” Dennis said. “I had never done PA before. I made a pretty foul-up job of it.”

During the 1970s and 1980s Dennis would stand in quite frequently until he took over permanently when Curtis suffered a stroke and retired through ill health in 1995.

The MCC president Mike Gatting said: “The impact the PA announcer has at Lord’s is huge – as Johnny proved during his great career here. Their voice can inspire spectators and players alike, and adds to the unique experience that is a Lord’s match day. MCC is looking for someone who can help to build the special atmosphere that exists during matches at Lord’s. Anyone who works at MCC will tell you what a unique place this is, and the club is hoping to find someone with the presence and personality to fit in with that.”

Applicants to become a new 'voice of Lord’s' should download a script from www.lords.org/voiceoflords and return a recording of themselves to MCC. Short-listed candidates will be tested in live match day conditions at an upcoming Lord’s match.

The ECB are also searching for Dennis’s permanent replacement as the voice of all England international matches across the UK. For more information visit www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/vacancies.