Bolus to become Notts president

Brian Bolus, the former England batsman and Test selector, is to take over from Kenneth Clarke MP as Nottinghamshire's president in February 2004.

Bolus played for Notts from 1963 to 1973, captaining the club in1972, and scored more than 25,000 first class runs in his 19-year career. He also played in seven Test matches for England between 1963 and 1964, averaging 41.33.

Bolus became a Test selector in 1994 before being elected to the England Management Committee in 1997, and was then appointed as chairman in 1999. He became a non-executive director of the ECB in 1999.

Albert Bocking, the Notts' chairman, also announced that he will be retiring in February. "It has been an immense privilege and honour to hold this office in such a great club and something I could not have dreamt about when I arrived in Nottinghamshire 21 years ago," he said. "I will be standing down knowing that we have in place an excellent executive team and some very experienced and capable committee members.

"Much has been accomplished during the past five years and despite recent setbacks on the field, I am confident the club will prosper in many ways in the future."