Roger Knight was a schoolmaster for 24 years before being appointed secretary and chairman of MCC in 2000. “There’s little difference between the diversity of the roles, but MCC is on a much grander scale.” He is concerned about the future of cricket and thinks that the key lies in respect — for the captain, the umpire, the opposition and the spirit of the game. He says: “Unless you have grown up in a cricketing culture you don’t necessarily understand the spirit. Football is different, where you challenge everything. In cricket the captain is responsible for the conduct of his team and the umpire is the sole judge of fair play.” He is taking the day off to celebrate with his family and they are planning a surprise in the evening. He retires this month but insists “only from MCC, not from the world.” Roger Knight is 60 today.
RGT
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Bruce Arnold, OBE, biographer, 70; the Right Rev John Bickersteth, Bishop of Bath and Wells, 1975-87, 85; Sherban Cantacuzino, secretary of the Royal Fine Art Commission, 1979-94, 78; Tim Henman, tennis player, 32; Sir Andrew Hugh Smith, chairman of the London Stock Exchange, 1988-94, 75; Sir John Johnson, chairman of the Countryside Commission, 1991-95, and Assistant Under-Secretary of State (Africa) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1984-86, 76; Roger Law, satirist and puppeteer, 65; John Young, rugby player and chairman of Lloyd’s Regulatory Board, 1997-2002, 69.