The Presidents of M.C.C.
"The Presidents of M.C.C. is the first history of the holders of what 'Plum' Warner described in 1929 as 'the chief post cricket has to offer'. In 1950, as Sir Pelham Warner, he was himself elected to the post and so was perched on what has euphemistically been called 'the Woolsack of cricket'." "Marylebone Cricket Club was formed in 1787 and so it is perfectly possible that there have been well in excess of two hundred Presidents. That doubt exists because in July 1825 all records of MCC were lost in a fire. The only evidence for the club's founding is a reference in the minutes of a meeting held on 30 July 1836. MCC has always been a private club but until 1968, when the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) was formed, it was the governing body of the game of cricket so the President of MCC was potentially a person of some importance and power. It was inevitable that some took themselves rather too seriously in the job, a fact not unrelated to their place in society, which necessarily was usually in the upper echelons. Despite the pomp and circumstance, Jonathan Rice has demonstrated that, with hardly any exceptions, the holders of the 'chief post' had the best interests of cricket and MCC uppermost in their minds."--Jacket
Print Book, English, 2006
Methuen, London, 2006