Douglas John Insole (18 April 1926 – 5 August 2017) Obituary

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, who played for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and in nine Test matches for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, five of them on the 1956–57 tour of South Africa, where he was vice-captain to Peter May. After retiring from playing, he was prominent in cricket administration, and served as chairman of the England selectors and as President of the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC).

Life and career

Insole was born in Clapton,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, attended the Monoux School,

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

, and lived most of his adult life in

Chingford Chingford is a suburban town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre of Chingford is north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walt ...

. He read history at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The colle ...

, where he was captain of

's cricket team. As a professional cricketer he scored 20,113 first-class runs for Essex, the ninth highest aggregate for the club. He played as a

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

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and bowler, and was captain of the Essex team for many years. He was one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1956. He was President of the

(MCC) for the twelve months, beginning on 1 October 2006. For his many services to cricket, Insole was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1979. Insole was chairman of selectors for

in the 1960s, and in 1968, he was criticized for presiding over the non-selection of

Basil D'Oliveira Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE OIS (4 October 1931 – 19 November 2011) was an England international cricketer of South African Cape Coloured background, whose potential selection by England for the scheduled 1968–69 tour of apartheid-era Sout ...

for a tour to South Africa. Only later did it become generally known that the selectors had been pressurised into omitting D'Oliveira because he was a '

coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

' South African and his inclusion in a team to visit the country, then under

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, was thought to be undiplomatic. Also during Insole's time

Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...

was dropped, in 1967 after having scored 246 not out. Boycott admitted to still feeling aggrieved about this over 40 years later, while commenting on the third Test between

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and England at Napier on 24 March 2008 and again during the ''

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. The programme is available on BB ...

'' commentary of England against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

on 7 June 2012, where he said that Insole "should have spelt his name with an A!" Again on 9 August 2014 during the 4th Test against India at Old Trafford, Insole's name was mentioned and Boycott reiterated his thoughts on how Insole's name should be spelt. Insole was a first team footballer for the amateur Corinthian-Casuals F.C., and played in the 1956

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

final, before they lost to

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

in a replay. He managed the 1978–79 by David Liverman and 1982–83 Ashes tours to Australia, and for nine years to 2006 was chair of the

European Cricket Council The European Cricket Council (ECC) was an international body which oversaw cricket in European countries other than the Test cricket, Test-playing cricketing nation of English cricket team, England, the only European Full Member of the ICC for ...

. Insole died on 5 August 2017, aged 91. His death was announced by Essex County Cricket Club the following day.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Insole, Doug 1926 births 2017 deaths Corinthian-Casuals F.C. players English cricketers England Test cricketers Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Essex cricketers Essex cricket captains People educated at Sir George Monoux College England cricket team selectors Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Cricketers from the London Borough of Hackney Men's association football players not categorized by position H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers English men's footballers 20th-century English businesspeople Cambridge University cricket captains Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire