Timothy Michael Lamb (born 24 March 1953) is an English sports administrator and former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er who played for a decade in

County cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

as a bowler. After retiring from playing, he became an administrator, serving the Middlesex County Cricket Club, the

Test and County Cricket Board The Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) was the governing body for Test and county cricket in Great Britain between 1968 and 1996. The TCCB was established in 1968 to replace the functions of the Board of Control for Test Matches (established ...

(TCCB) and the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...

(ECB). His most notable cricket administrative roles were as chief executive of the TCCB and its successor ECB from 1996 to 2004. He later became the chief executive of the Sport and Recreation Alliance (formerly the CCPR) from 2005 until 2014. He left the Sport and Recreation Alliance and set u
TML Sports Connections
a sports consultancy. He is also a member of the Cabinet Office Sport Honours Committee.

Early life and education

Lamb was born in

Hartford, Cheshire Hartford is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies at the intersection of the A559 road and the West Coast Main Line (between Liverpool and Crewe ...

in 1953, the second son of Foster Lamb, later to be the second Baron Rochester. His older brother, David Lamb, became the third Baron Rochester in 2017. Lamb was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into th ...

, a boarding and day independent school for boys (now coeducational), in the

market town A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, followed by The Queen's College at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

(at which he got blues in 1973 and 1974).

Cricket career

Lamb played professional cricket for

(1974–1977) and

(1978–1983). A right-arm fast-medium bowler, he played 160 First Class matches between 1973 and 1983, taking 361 wickets (average 28.97) and scoring 1274 runs (average 12.49), with a top score of 77 against Nottinghamshire at Lord's. But he was perhaps better known for his record in the limited overs form of the game, where in all competitions he took a total of 190 wickets at an average of 25.70 at a highly respectable economy rate of 3.86. He also played in four Lord's Cup Finals.

Sports administration

He entered sports administration as secretary and general manager of

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

in 1984, and became cricket secretary of the

in 1988 and chief executive (prior to the establishment of the ECB) in 1996. Under his leadership the sport of cricket witnessed a period of unprecedented reform and modernisation, which saw the introduction of Twenty20 Cricket, a two-division County Championship with promotion and relegation, central contracts for England players, the establishment of a National Academy and a resurgence of interest and participation in cricket among children (boys and girls), as well as a significant growth in the women's game. The ECB's annual commercial income more than doubled during his period of office. He was subsequently elected an Honorary Life Member of the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influenc ...

(MCC), Middlesex County Cricket Club and also Durham County Cricket Club in recognition of his services to cricket. Lamb left the ECB in 2004 and the following year became chief executive of the

CCPR CCPR may refer to: * Central Council of Physical Recreation * International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights * Chelatchie Prairie Railroad * California Center for Population Research See also *CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a ...

(renamed the Sport and Recreation Alliance in December 2010), the independent umbrella body and trade association for the national governing and representative bodies of sport and recreation in the UK. Lamb retired from this position in February 2014.

Personal life

He is married to Denise and has two children. His son

Nick Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

, played nine First-class matches for the

Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence Durham MCC University (previously known as Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence) is a cricket coaching centre based at Durham University in Durham, County Durham, England, and the name under which the university's cricket team plays ...

and the

British Universities cricket team The British Universities cricket team was a cricket team whose players were drawn from university students studying in Great Britain. The team played under the title of Combined Universities until 1995. The team played List A cricket from 1975 ...

References

External links

CricinfoCricket ArchiveSport and Recreation Alliance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Tim 1953 births Living people Chief Executives of the England and Wales Cricket Board English cricket administrators English cricketers Middlesex cricketers Secretaries of Middlesex County Cricket Club Northamptonshire cricketers Oxford University cricketers People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Younger sons of barons Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers