MCC and Kent grandee dies aged 94

David Clark, the former Kent captain and President of MCC, has died aged 94.

Clark was born in Barming, Kent and played 75 matches for Kent between 1946 and 1951, captaining the county from between 1949 and1951. He was chairman between 1970 and 1974 and president in 1990. He was, at the time of his death, Kent's oldest capped player.

He joined the MCC committee in 1959 and later served on the club's Cricket and General Purposes committees. He was the club's president in 1977-78 and the treasurer for six years from 1980.

He was manager of the MCC tour of India in 1963/4 and the 1970-71 Ashes tour, where his somewhat old-fashioned attitude did not always endear itself to the players. Ray Illingworth, England's captain on the tour, described Clark as "an amiable, but somewhat ineffectual man."

Clark also chaired a number of MCC committees, which reviewed the structures of the County Championship and the role of the MCC. The 'Clark Report' - the result of a committee he chaired between 1965 and 1967 - contained several recommendations over the future of the domestic game, but nearly all were rejected by the counties.

Commenting on the death of David Clark, Carl Openshaw, former Chairman and President of Kent County Cricket Club said; "David Clark was one of the most influential figures in English cricket in the second half of the twentieth century.

"He was only the second man after Lord Harris to have held the posts of captain, chairman and president of Kent County Cricket Club, and he also played leading roles in the MCC and in the administration of English cricket."

A funeral is to be held for family only and a memorial service is likely to be held in the last two weeks of November.