Doug Insole passes away aged 91
He scored more than 25,000 first-class then had an influential career as an administrator
ESPNcricinfo staff
06-Aug-2017
Doug Insole, right, in his role as TCCB chairman at The Oval in 1977 • Getty Images
Doug Insole, the former England and Essex batsman who went on to become an influential administrator, has died aged 91.
Despite being better know for his post-playing career as a selector and chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) - the forerunner to the ECB - Insole was good enough to score more than 25,000 first-class runs, as well as play nine Tests for England.
At Essex, he was a prominent captain, chairman and president, a role he maintained until his death on Saturday. He captained Cambridge before taking charge at Essex in 1950, succeeding Tom Pearce.
"It is with deep regret that Essex County Cricket Club announces the passing of former player, captain, chairman and president, Doug Insole CBE, who passed away peacefully at home last night, at the age of 91 years old," an Essex statement said. "Doug was one of the most outstanding players and administrators in cricket and affectionately known by everyone at the Club as 'Mr Essex'."
His Test debut also came in 1950, against the touring West Indies side, but he only made sporadic appearances for England over the next seven years. In 1956, he was named one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year and his sole Test hundred came the following winter, against South Africa at Durban, when he was vice-captain. He played his final Test against the same opponents the following summer.
He continued to play for Essex until his retirement in 1963, fielding in the slips and amassing 138 wickets with his medium pace, to go with more than 50 first-class hundreds.
Insole served on the MCC committee for almost 40 years and was named the club's president in 2006. He was an England selector for 19 years - during which time he oversaw the dropping of Geoffrey Boycott and Basil D'Oliveira's controversial omission from a touring party to South Africa - and served as chairman of the TCCB during the Packer "crisis" of the late 1970s.
He was also team manager on England's Ashes tours of 1978-79 and 1982-83. In 1979, he received a CBE for services to cricket.