MCC president Doug Insole had fond memories of Leominster when he returned to North Herefordshire as guest speaker at Leominster Rankin Club's March sports night.

The 80-year-old former Essex and England cricketer spent three years in Leominster as a wartime evacuee from London in the 1940s and was welcomed back by some of his contemporaries from the town.

A few of his formative years were spent playing for Leominster Grammar School on The Grange and among those present at the sports night were Peter Mann and Maz Noden who shared that experience some 65 years ago.

Insole went on to make an enormous contribution to cricket, both as a player and as an administrator.

A Cambridge University blue at both cricket and soccer, he went on to successfully captain Essex in a 17-year playing career and made nine Test appearances for England.

He is one of a select band of batsmen to have scored a first-class century against every county bar his own and he also made a Test hundred against South Africa.

Insole continued to serve cricket with distinction after his playing career and he was awarded the CBE.

He was on the MCC committee for 20 years and an England selector, becoming chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board, while he was also manager of two England tours to Australia.

His influence was far-reaching as a chairman of the European Cricket Council, while his MCC presidency will end this year - 60 years after he made his first-class debut.