Lord Home of the Hirsel, The Baron, KT, PC, who died at his home on October 9, 1995, aged 92, was the only British prime minister to have played first-class cricket. As Lord Dunglass, he was a useful member of the Eton XI. In the rain-affected Eton- Harrow match of 1922 he scored 66, despite being hindered by a saturated outfield, and then took 4 for 37 with his medium-paced out-swingers. He played ten first-class matches for six different teams: Middlesex, Oxford University, H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI, MCC (with whom he toured South America under Pelham Warner), Free Foresters and Harlequins. His two games for Middlesex were in 1924 and 1925, both against Oxford University while he was actually an Oxford undergraduate; he did not represent the university until the following year. His cricket was gradually overtaken by politics, and he entered the Commons in 1931. After he succeeded to his father's title and became the 14th Earl of Home, he rose to be foreign secretary and then prime minister, when he emerged as a totally unexpected compromise choice as Harold Macmillan's successor. After renouncing his title (and becoming Sir Alec Douglas-Home until he returned to the Lords as a life peer) he remained in Downing Street for a year until the 1964 election. Despite all his honours, Alec Home never made an enemy and was much valued, in cricket as in politics, for his quiet charm and sagacity. He was president of MCC in 1966 and an important behind-the-scenes influence whenever the game was in difficulties. From 1977 to 1989 Lord Home was Governor of I Zingari. The general opinion is that, even if he had devoted himself to the game, he would not have been a regular county player, but then no one expected him to rise so high in politics either. H. S. Altham, in his review of public schools cricket in the 1923 Wisden, said Lord Dunglass was a better batsman on wet pitches - he had the courage of his convictions and could hook and pull the turning ball effectively. Much the same could be said for his politics: he was always at his best on a sticky wicket.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack