ICA mourns the passing of Stuart Elgrod

Stuart Elgrod, a passionate cricket supporter, passed away today after a long illness. Stuart, who lived in Ra'anana since making aliya from the UK 30 years ago, was a great asset to cricket in Israel, quietly contributing in many areas.

Perhaps his greatest legacy was the founding of the Motley Crew Cricket Club in 1996 - as the name suggests it was a motley crew of people of all ages, backgrounds and cricketing talents, who came together for a social game of cricket on a regular basis.

These games were the first time Friday cricket was played in Israel, paving the way for many observant players to become involved in the game, some of whom have even gone on to represent Israel, and ultimately leading to the inclusion of Friday matches in the domestic league.

Stuart was an active member of the Cricket Memorabilia Society, boasting a magnificent collection of cricket memorabilia, including a unique stamp collection. "As a player he fielded in the slips or fine leg, anywhere he didn't have to move to much, but he just loved anything to do with cricket", commented his good friend and colleague, Stanley Rudnick.

ICA Chairman Stanley Perlman said "Stuart will be remembered as the definition of a 'cricket mensch', a true friend of Israel cricket, and on behalf of the ICA we offer our condolences to his wife and family".