Broadcaster and former cricketer Mark Nicholas has become President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), with 1 October marking the start of his year in office. Nicholas was announced as Stephen Fry's successor at the Club's Annual General Meeting in May.
The new President scored over 25,000 runs and captained Hampshire to four major trophies in an 18-year career, before moving into broadcasting. He anchored Channel 4's groundbreaking Test match coverage and was named as Sports Presenter of the Year in 2001 and 2005 by the Royal Television Society, before moving on to become the face of cricket in Australia for Channel 9 and then working for SuperSport in South Africa.
Nicholas has also excelled as a journalist, working for the Daily Telegraph and writing a number of books including the late Shane Warne's autobiography, No Spin. His own book, A Beautiful Game, was voted MCC book of the year in 2017.
"I am honoured to be following in the footsteps of many wonderful people who have had the privilege of being the President of MCC"
Mark has served on the club's committees for cricket, marketing and Laws, Spirit & Ethos as well as the Main committee. He was also a part of the small working party that formed the principle of the Spirit of Cricket
Nicholas said of his appointment: "I am honoured to be following in the footsteps of many wonderful people who have had the privilege of being the President of MCC, none more so than two heroes of mine and mentors, Ted Dexter and Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie.
"Lord's is, of course, a special place and I'm looking forward to a greater involvement with the Club through the many projects with which we are presently engaged. I'm also excited by the many events which we have already planned over the next year."
Further changes to the MCC Committee are also taking place, with new Treasurer Chris Rogers replacing Tony Elgood, who completed six years in the role.
MCC Members appointed Rogers for a three-year term at the AGM in May. He was elected as a Member of the Club in 1977 and has served on the Club's Finance committee since 2015. He is currently non-executive chair at Wickes Group and a non-executive director at Sanderson Design Group and Kerry Group. He was previously Chief Financial Officer at Whitbread and Global Managing Director of Costa Coffee.
Kumar Sangakkara remains on the MCC Committee as the new Chair of the MCC World Cricket committee, replacing former England captain Mike Gatting, who had six years in the role.
Former Sri Lankan international Sangakkara was President of MCC from 2019-21. Widely regarded as one of the game's greatest players, he has since gone on to a successful career combining coaching and commentary work. He will chair a committee which includes other exceptional cricketers including Sourav Ganguly, Heather Knight, Justin Langer, Eoin Morgan and Graeme Smith.