Martin-Jenkins named as MCC President

Christopher Martin-Jenkins, the BBC Test Match Special commentator and former chief cricket correspondent of The Times, will serve as the next President of Marylebone Cricket Club. His one-year term of office will begin on October 1, 2010.

The announcement of his appointment was made by John Barclay, the current club president, on Wednesday at Lord's during MCC's Annual General Meeting .

Elected a member in 1967, Martin-Jenkins has a strong association with the club. Having previously played 67 times for MCC in matches against schools and clubs, he was elected to the MCC Committee in 2009; he also sits on the Arts & Library sub-committee. In 2007 he became the first career journalist and broadcaster to be invited to speak at the annual MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture - previous lecturers had all been former international cricketers.

Martin-Jenkins was a good schoolboy cricketer - he once scored 99 at Lord's for Marlborough against Rugby School - and gained county experience playing for Surrey 2nd XI before turning to journalism. He was mentored in his early career by the late EW Swanton, with whom he worked as assistant editor at The Cricketer. He was appointed cricket correspondent for the BBC in 1973 before returning to The Cricketer as editor in 1980.

From 1983, Martin-Jenkins combined his editorship with a return to the BBC cricket correspondent role, fulfilling both jobs until 1990, when he joined the Daily Telegraph as cricket correspondent. He switched to The Times before the 1999 season, where he served as chief cricket correspondent until 2008. He has remained a regular commentator on Test Match Special and a frequent contributor to The Times and The Wisden Cricketer.

Paying tribute to his successor, a man whom he first met in his role as a BBC correspondent, John Barclay said: "Christopher has a wealth of cricket knowledge and a very strong connection to the sport; quite simply, he loves the game. Working within the world of cricket for over 40 years, he is, I believe, ideally placed to serve as MCC President. He could be described as the 'voice of cricket' - when CMJ appears on the radio, he makes you feel that all is right with the world.

"Following in the footsteps of former professionals such as Mike Brearley, Derek Underwood and myself, I think it's nice to have a bit of variety in the role. I am delighted to nominate Christopher Martin-Jenkins as MCC President and believe he will do an excellent job