David entered LGS as a seven year old in 1962 and when he left 11 years later he had established himself as one of the top all round sportsmen the School has produced. He was 1st XI Hockey Captain losing just 4 of their 26 fixtures with David playing for both the County, Midlands and then the ‘tournament side’ for the best 22 players in the Country. He was also Captain of Cricket and we played against each other in 1973 – I was Captain of King Henry VIII School Coventry – when he took 5-28 as we were bowled out for 72 and he then scored 46 n.o., hitting me for five fours in the nine balls I bowled as LGS won by 10 wickets!
He studied accountancy at Leicester Polytechnic and played briefly for Leicestershire CCC 2nd XI before realising that he would not make it in the first-class game. After then reading Sports Science and Recreational Management at Loughborough University he moved into business working in the travel and leisure industry before entering cricket administration with first Essex and then Gloucestershire before returning to Leicestershire as CEO in 1993. In his six years at the club he saw them to two County Championship wins before moving to Nottinghamshire in 1999 for five years before becoming the 2nd CEO of the England & Wales Cricket Board in 2004. In his 10 years there he oversaw Ashes victories four times for the men and five times for the women as well as both the men and women winning global tournaments. He was awarded the OBE in 2015 for his ‘services to cricket’.
He was an international hockey umpire, travelling the world, and was best known as being Tournament Director at numerous world-level events, including the Commonwealth Games and the Indoor Hockey World Cup and in 2002 organised a rescue package for England Hockey and became a Vice-President with them. On leaving the ECB he became CEO of the Rugby League International Federation.
However he never forgot his old school and returned in 2006 to present the prizes at Senior Prize Giving where he proudly showed the Ashes won the previous year in the famous 2005 Ashes triumph. He died on 13 January aged 70.
– John Weitzel
