Matthew Fleming named as new MCC President

ESPNCricinfo: Matthew Fleming, the former Kent and England allrounder, has been unveiled as the next President of MCC.

Fleming, 51, will take up the post on 1 October after being nominated by the current incumbent, Roger Knight, at the club AGM at Lord’s.

He is the current Chairman of Cricket, having been elected in October 2013, and will be the youngest MCC president for 36 years, since Peter May served in 1980.

Fleming’s first-class career stretched from 1989 to 2002, in which time he scored 9206 runs for Kent at an average of 30.18 and took 290 wickets at 35.91 in 219 first-class appearances.

He also played in 11 ODIs for England in the late 1990s, and has since gone on to play a lead role in the MCC Foundation’s work in Afghanistan, where he has worked closely with charity Afghan Connection to help develop the country’s cricket programme.

“It is important to me to nominate a member who is well versed in, and fully supportive of, the ethos of MCC and who will be recognised, not only within the club, but also in the wider world of cricket,” said Knight.

“Matthew was a fine allround cricketer, who captained Kent with distinction and who earned England recognition in one-day internationals. A brilliant cover-point fielder, he was often a daring cricketer - indeed his first two scoring shots in first-class cricket were sixes.

“He understands present-day cricketers, as a former Chairman of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, and is respected widely around the game. Matthew will undoubtedly be an excellent President of MCC.”

Fleming said: “I would like to thank Roger Knight for nominating me to succeed him as MCC president. I am very honoured and very humbled to be asked to follow in the footsteps of some of the most extraordinary people ever involved in the game.”