Essex County Cricket Club were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of President and former and Essex and England cricketer, Doug Insole CBE, on Sunday.
Born in Clapton, East London on 18 April 1926, to John and Margaret Insole. Doug attended Selwyn Avenue Primary School, Highams Park and found a lifelong passion for music and sport.
On leaving school, he was posted to an outstation of Bletchley Park. He spent the rest of the war working taking down intercepted enemy messages, at twenty words a minute. These were then whisked to Bletchley by despatch rider for decoding.
After serving with the army for two years from 1944 he began studying history at Cambridge. He was a soccer blue in 1946-48 and a cricket blue in 1947-49 for Cambridge University.
From 1947 he played first-class cricket as a middle-order batsman both for the university and, once term-time had ended, for Essex.
Doug appeared in 450 first class matches scoring 25,241 runs at 37.61, with 54 centuries and a career best of 219 not out. He was a fine slip fielder, occasional wicket keeper and took 138 wickets. After his best season in 1955, when he scored 2427 runs at an average of 42, with nine centuries, he was named one of the five Wisden cricketers of the year.
Doug was a highly respected and distinguished cricketer and administrator and followed his playing career by becoming a Test selector while playing with Essex in 1960, remaining in the job until 1979 and serving as chairman of selectors from 1965 until 1968.
He was chairman of the TCCB from 1975 until 1978, and managed England during their 1978-79 and 1982-83 Ashes tours to Australia. At Essex, he was chairman from 1976 until 1978 and president from 1994 until his death.
Essex Cricket Chairman, John Faragher, reflected on Doug’s contributions and said: “The passing of our President, Mr Douglas J Insole CBE, was indeed a sad day for Essex Cricket. It is hard to imagine the Club without Doug as President, such was his presence and influence at the ground.
“He leaves a legacy with shoes impossible to fill. He was a remarkable man who did so much for English cricket. He lived life to the full until the very end and was a popular figure in Committee rooms around the country.
“His passion for Essex Cricket was immense. He was proud to be our President and even more so this year as we moved to the top of Division One, playing the type of cricket that has long been associated with Essex County Cricket Club. I am sure he was with us in Scarborough as we achieved a stunning two day victory against Yorkshire.
“We saw a rare glimpse of emotion from Doug following the announcement that the Pavilion would be renamed following his contribution to Essex Cricket. We look forward to the official naming ceremony during the Yorkshire match in September.
“Doug was a special person, and the Club will miss him greatly. We were fortunate to benefit from his knowledge and wisdom, something he always shared with cricket lovers. His memory will be with us for many years to come.”
Club Captain, Ryan ten Doeschate paid tribute to Doug, describing him as a “fantastic servant to cricket”:
