Marylebone Cricket Club is the oldest cricket club in the World and it is the club that made the Laws of Cricket under the founder Thomas Lord. After Thomas Lord, there were so many people who took charge and responsibilities of the Club. There were a total of 170 presidents have taken charge of MCC till today and the current president is Mark Nicholas. Kumar Sangakkara is the first non-British president of MCC. After the president the second most powerful person in the club is the secretary. The secretary and chief executive initially called as club secretary are the senior employees elected by the MCC committee.
In this article, we’ll read about all 16 secretaries of MCC. Benjamin Aislabie is the first secretary appointed for the club.
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Benjamin Aislabie
Benjamin Aislabie who was the first club secretary of Marylebone Cricket Club was a wine merchant, Slave implantation, and Cricket Administrator. Aislabie also played amateur cricket between 1808 to 1841 but wasn’t that skilled to be known in the field. He is the main person in early development for MCC. He took charge from 1822 to 1842 the same year he passed away.
Roger Kynaston
Roger Kynaston took charge after Benjamin died in 1842 and served til 1858. He also played for MCC between 1830 to 1854 where he appeared in 166 first-class games and scored 2618 runs which is a decent number. According to Pelham Warner former English cricketer who is also known as ‘the grand old man of cricket’ Roger’s efforts of making changes in MCC were overlooked and disrupted by MCC members and his relationships with them weren’t good. He added that Roger became the secretary during the difficult time of MCC.
Alfred Baillie
Alfred Baillie took the charge after Roger’s retirement in 1858 and stayed til 1863. He has also played for MCC for a couple of games. Alfred has scored just 8 runs in his first-class career while playing with MCC.
Robert Allan Fitzgerald
Robert Allan Fitzgerald was an English cricketer and also served MCC as a club secretary from 1863 to 1876. He is the first paid secretary of MCC because of his great efforts off the field to improve Lord’s cricket.
Henry Perkins
Henry Perkins took over the chair after Rober was asked to leave it in 1876. During his tenure, the membership of MCC has gone from 2000 to 4000 and he was the main face of the written history of the club at its centenary in 1887. He got 400 euros on his retirement and also became a life member.
Frances Lacey
Frances Lacey succeeded Henry Perkins in 1898. Francis has played 50 first-class games while playing for Hampshire Cambridge University and MCC and scored 2589 runs with four centuries. During his cricket career, he became the secretary of MCC and brought it the new levels. In 1926 he left the seat and became the trustee.
William Findlay
William Findlay is an English cricket who played for Lancashire and Oxford University between 1901 to 1906. In 88 games he scored 1984 runs which is an average number. Later he became the secretary of MCC in 1926 and served until 1936. He also became the president of MCC for one year in 1951.
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Rowan Rait Kerr
Irish-born cricketer Rowan Rait Kerr has played just six first-class games where he scored 89 runs. Later he became the secretary of MCC in 1936 and served till 1952. His daughter Diana Rait Kerr is the first elected lady member of MCC which happened in 1999.
Ronnie Aird
Ronnie Aird was an English Cricketer, Cricket Administrator, and British Army officer. He has played 136 games for MCC, Hampshire, and Cambridge Univerity where he scored 4482 runs with four centuries. He was appointed as an assistant secretary in 1926 and then promoted as a secretary in 1952 after Kerr’s retirement and then served till 1962. Later he became the president of MCC in 1968.
Billy Griffith
Billy Griffith has played 3 test matches for England as a wicket-keeper batter in which he scored 157 runs. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University (1934–1936), Surrey (1934), Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) (1935–1953), Sussex (1937–1954). In 1962 he was appointed as the secretary of MCC and served till 1974.
Jack Arthur Bailey
Jack Arthur Bailey is an English first-class cricketer and he appeared in 112 games while playing for Essex and Oxford University he took 347 wickets. Later in 1974 he was appointed as the secretary of MCC following the assistant secretary and served in 1987.
John Robin Stephenson
Lieutenant Colonel John Robin Stephenson was a British army officer and cricket administrator. He has played School cricket along with the previous secretary J.A. Bailey. He was first appointed as assistant secretary at MCC and then secretary in 1987. He also played cricket for the Army.
Roger Knight
Roger Knight was a first-class English cricketer. He has played 387 games for four different clubs and scored 19558 runs with 31 centuries and 114 half-centuries. He has also taken 369 wickets. He became secretary of MCC in 1994 and then became secretary and chief executive in 2000. He retired in 2006 and then became the president of the club in 2015.
Keith Bradshaw
Keith Bradshaw was an Australian cricketer Accountant and administrator. He played 25 first-class games in which he scored 1083 runs with two centuries. He became the first non-European secretary of MCC in 2006 and following the controversy with England’s head coach Duncan Fletcher in 2007 he resigned in 2011. In the same year, he was appointed as the CEO of the South Australian Cricket Association.
Derek Brewer
Derek Brewer was appointed as secretary and chief executive after the retirement of Keith Bradshaw in 2011. Derek resigned from the position in 2017 which shocked everyone.
Guy Lavender
Guy Lavender is the current Secretary and chief executive of Marylebone Cricket Club. he was appointed in this position in 2017. Guy started his career in the British Army as a commissioner in 1988 and retired as Lieutenant Colonel in 2006. Guy became a member of the MCC committee in 2021.
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