“MACLAURIN, THIS IS A CRICKET CLUB, NOT A CHAIN OF BLOODY SHOPS!”
Ian MacLaurin was born in Blackheath, Kent, on 30 March 1937. He joined Tesco in 1959 and rose through the company, ultimately becoming chairman in 1985. By the time he retired, in 1997, Tesco had become the UK’s largest retailer. He became chairman of Vodafone in 1998, was the first chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and is currently chairman of the Sports Honours Committee. He was knighted in 1989 and created a life peer in 1996.
We sit in Ian MacLaurin’s stylishly comfortable London home, with Barclays World of Cricket – the A to Z of the game – dominating the coffee table. Our focus, though, is not on cricket’s ABC but its ECB, an organisation Ian claims to have become chairman of by default.
‘Around the time I was leaving Tesco I had several phone calls, including one from dear Brian Downing, the past president of Surrey. He said, “Ian, we are putting the first-class game and recreational game together, as you know, and we are looking for a chairman of the new governing body, the England and Wales Cricket Board. Will you consider standing?” I said, “Well, if you want to put my name on the list, stick my name on it and see what, if anything, happens.” About six or eight weeks later, I had another call from him, and he said, “Congratulations! You are the new chairman of the ECB – well, actually the first chairman of the ECB!” And I asked him, “How many other names were on the paper for the job?” “None,” he said.’
Rather less amusing was what happened when, shortly after Ian’s appointment in 1997, he went to Harare for the New Year Test match. About half an hour before lunch on the Sunday, Ian was told that Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, was coming to watch the game. There was a guard of honour as Mugabe came in, accompanied by his Sports Minister, and by Peter Chindoka, the boss of Zimbabwe cricket. ‘He sat in the front of the Presidential box and Chindoka said to me, “Go and sit next to the President,” adding, “but I have to tell you that we have been warned of a possible assassination attempt on Mugabe’s life today.” So I went, gingerly, and sat next to Mugabe. There were two television sets up in the box where Bob Willis was commentating and the camera zoomed in on the presidential box and he said, in his very droll way, “President Mugabe is here, the Sports Minister is here, and you can just see the top of the head of the new chairman of the ECB.” So there I was, just sitting there thinking, any minute now there’s going to be a rifle cracking off.’
When the visit to Zimbabwe was being arranged, Ian was asked by the administrators at Lord’s where he would like to stay. ‘I thought, “Well, that’s rather strange,” but said, “I would like to stay with the team, please” – because at that stage I didn’t know them personally at all. There was a pregnant pause before they told me that the executives usually stayed in a rather better hotel than the players. I insisted, “No, I want to stay with the players.” So I finish up, with my wife, at the Holiday Inn in the middle of Harare. They said, “We’ve got a suite for you.” I said, “Thank you very much indeed,” and we go up to the suite, which is actually pretty small and you couldn’t open the windows and you couldn’t leave the incredibly noisy air conditioning on. It was just appalling.
‘The next day I went round the players’ rooms with the manager. I went into the first room, then the second and third room, and they were all sharing in these rabbit hutches with single beds. You know what cricketers are like, with jockstraps and all that stuff – it was awful. The only two people that had single rooms were the captain, Michael Atherton, and John Barclay, who was the manager. Meanwhile, Tim Lamb, the ECB chief executive was staying nearby in a very nice hotel, much to my wife’s disgust. I said to Tim, “Why are the players all together?” “Oh, tradition,” he told me. I said, “Well, Tim, from now on, this tradition stops. They have single rooms and if they want to share, they apply to share, and we will look after them sensibly and well. They are international cricketers.” The team went on from Zimbabwe to New Zealand, where all our arrangements were changed so that they all had single rooms.’
The visit to Zimbabwe gave Ian his first close-up of the need for massive changes. But he realised pretty quickly that there were those who were, at best, averse to change. Anything dramatic that he might plan, such as creating two divisions in the County Championship, was bound to be met with tough opposition. ‘Well, you have to fight those battles, whether it’s in business or cricket. Cricket was difficult. It was absolutely in the dark ages. If you look back, in 1996 we were one of the worst sides in the world. I think only Zimbabwe was behind us. There was very little direction and there was no money in the game. So, one of the first things I did with Tim Lamb, who was a very capable chief executive, was to prepare and publish a tome called Raising the Standard. This set out where we wanted to be. It was quite clear to me, with all my retail experience, that we had to brand the England side and that the England side had to be absolutely top in our thinking. But we didn’t have any money. When the ECB was formed we had about £30 million to run the whole of cricket in this country, which was absolutely ridiculous!
‘I spent a lot of time with Terry Blake, our sponsorship and marketing director, talking to Chris Smith, the then Sports Minister. Eventually we persuaded him to move Test cricket from the A list to the B list, which meant we could negotiate our wares with satellite and terrestrial television. We did this on the clear understanding from Chris that before we announced anything, he had to know about it and pass it. So we did this deal with Channel 4 and Sky, went to Chris, and said, “This is what we want to do. All the limited-over matches on Sky with one Test match, and all the other Test matches on Channel 4.” And he said that was fine.’
But the debate rumbles on and there has been a lot of criticism over the non-terrestrial aspect. ‘I do not believe that it would now make sense to change it and this daft idea about the Ashes being exclusive to terrestrial television would be very damaging. Cricket has turned full circle. We’ve got more people playing cricket, we’ve got money going into grass roots cricket, we’ve got money going into disabled cricket, we’ve got money going into blind cricket. The counties, by and large, are pretty well thought of at the moment. They are getting some pretty big grants from the ECB. Now, if you’re going to cut that off in any way, you have to be very careful. When we first went to Sky, I was quite vocal, because I had a very clear understanding with Chris Smith that a certain amount of cricket had to be on terrestrial television. But that was kicked into touch, although I still have documents quite clearly stating that it should be on terrestrial television and Sky. But that deal’s gone now. Whether it will ever come back I don’t know.
‘However, as a result of the deal with Sky and Channel 4, our income went up from around £30 million to £90 million. So we could then start to help the counties more. I think about 15 of the 18 first-class counties had basically been on the breadline. They had no money. People weren’t going to watch. The whole thing was a bit of a shambles at that time, to be quite honest with you. And the England side itself was made up of a desperate bunch of people. The players were wearing white helmets and pink helmets and green helmets – I mean, the whole thing was a shambles. So we set about putting a bit of discipline into it all.’
A significant part of the extra money went to the National Academy of Cricket at Loughborough, to contracted players, and to hiring Duncan Fletcher after the ‘99 World Cup. ‘This was a very good and important move for us and Duncan did a great job.’
One of the ECB’s ambitions was to establish both the England men’s and women’s sides as number one in the world by the beginning of the 21st century. That has been comfortably achieved by the women but not quite by the men. ‘We got very close, didn’t we, in 2005 when we beat the Australians? I think we were second in the world. We are probably about third or fourth in the world now. But we are a good side now and you can see the young cricketers coming through. We also have pretty good management – Andy Flower is doing a very good job. I think we went seriously wrong when Michael Vaughan stepped down and they appointed Andrew Flintoff captain for Australia in 2006. To my mind that was crazy. It certainly wouldn’t have happened had I still been chairman of the ECB. And again, I think the captaincy going to Kevin Pietersen after that was crass.’
There were, of course, many other big issues that Ian had to address, not least betting and match fixing. ‘This became a major concern right throughout my time. I remember bringing everybody to Lord’s and getting them to sign declarations. Even then, two nations would not sign. Lord Condon, the former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, became head of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit, investigating the game’s betting problems. He did a very good job, although it was quite unpleasant and quite difficult. But I think we managed it reasonably well.’
Then there was the issue with the Pakistanis over Alec Stewart, the England wicketkeeper, who was alleged to have been paid £5, 000 for information. ‘The press loved all that. The Pakistanis felt that he should have been suspended, but Alec had explained the position to us quite clearly. I would always support Alec. I have a huge amount of time for him. He is a wonderful cricketer and he is not, in my book, someone who is going to get involved in sharp practice.’
But sadly the betting problem, coupled with spot fixing relating to individual actions in a match, surfaced again in 2010. Ian’s reaction to this is crystal clear. ‘Any international cricketer found guilty of match fixing or betting should be banned for life. This is the only way you will stamp out this wrongdoing.’
One major innovation during Ian’s time at the ECB was the introduction of Twenty20, which has since had an enormous impact throughout the world. ‘It only just got through the counties by one or two votes because they thought we were trivialising the game and that it was wrong. Yet we had actually spent £250, 000 on a marketing survey to ascertain what people would go and watch. And Twenty20 was right at the top of the list. So we went to the counties and said we want to launch this, but they were totally against it. I remember the chairman of Durham, Bill Midgley, was adamantly against it. I phoned him up and said, “Bill, I really want your vote tomorrow because we have to give this a try for three years, and if it doesn’t work then we’ll change it.” And he said, “Well, we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” Next day, at Lord’s, we sat the counties in alphabetical order, starting with Derbyshire, then Durham, going all the way round to end with Yorkshire. So we start with Derbyshire: he was for it – so that was OK. Then it was Bill Midgley’s turn and I said, “Now Bill, what do you think?” He got up and said, “I think this is dreadful. I think it is burlesquing cricket. I think it is probably the worst thing we have ever had to talk about here – but the chairman has given me such a hard time that I am going to vote for it.”
‘So I enjoyed the ECB but I have one regret, to be quite honest with you. After six years, it was clear to me that we had to get the management and the directorship of the ECB changed. What was required was a mix of county chairmen and non-executive directors from outside, with a bit of experience in business and raising money and all that sort of thing. I had lunch or dinner with every one of the county chairmen and then I wrote to them and said, “This will be my plan if you want me to stay as chairman for another two years.” What upset me, really, was that I only got two letters of reply – having worked bloody hard for six years!’
Even though he was so annoyed that there were only two replies, Ian was not prepared to reveal which chairmen they came from. ‘I just thought, “If that’s the way they are thinking about it, then I am not going to stand. And I didn’t! Nevertheless, I am just very pleased to see the efforts of the ECB and where they are placing their funds – that a lot of money is going not only to the England side, but to counties and also to grass roots cricket. I think that is very healthy and that we are probably in as good a state as we have been in my lifetime. You know, it is so nice to see a game that you have been totally devoted to going the right way, very much the right way.’
In fact, if he was still running the ECB or in a position of authority within the game, there was nothing that Ian would desperately like to see changed or that hasn’t been achieved. ‘But I do think that, in time, somebody has to grasp the nettle and ask, “Are we playing too much cricket, both domestic and international? And do we actually need to have 18 first-class counties to produce our best cricketers?” A very difficult question to answer, but I think I would prefer to have 12 or 14 first-class counties rather than 18. I would rather the money go into those 12 or 14, so there will be more time for coaching and training and doing all those sort of things.’ But Ian agrees that he would have to get over the significant hurdle of saying to four or six counties, sorry, you are not a first-class county any longer. ‘Well, it is very difficult, but if you were starting the first-class game now, you wouldn’t have 18 first-class counties.’
But away from the ECB there are happy memories of people that he has met through cricket over the years. ‘Colin Cowdrey was my cricketing hero, because we were about the same vintage and we played cricket together. He once stood up at a Lord’s Taverners’ lunch and said, “Among us today is Ian MacLaurin,” adding, “I really can’t understand why he didn’t join Kent as a professional, or even as an amateur, but he went on to become quite a successful grocer.” And it was lovely in the House of Lords, when we sat there together on the back benches. I was then chairman of the ECB and he used to send me little notes. “Ian, why don’t you do this?” and “Ian, why don’t you do the other?” And I would scribble back, “I can’t actually do that, Colin.” So I had a great association with a wonderful, wonderful man.
‘Also, in a very different context, I was young when I went on the MCC Committee for the first time, sitting there in front of all the great and the good. I was really trying to get in and say something which I thought might be halfway sensible. Eventually, I caught the president’s eye and I said whatever I said. As I finished, a voice from the other end of the Committee Room at Lord’s, said, “MacLaurin, this is a cricket club, not a chain of bloody shops!” It was Field Marshal Lord Bramall, a fantastic man – someone I got to know well over the years. So cricket is full of super people.’
And of memorable matches. ‘Never to be forgotten, without question, was when we won the Ashes in 2005, when Warney [Shane Warne] dropped Pietersen. If he had caught that, what would have happened? I was in the dressing room with the boys afterwards. I mean, that was just wonderful. That was one, and I suppose the other one, which doesn’t come high in the history of cricket, was in 2001, when we beat Sri Lanka in Colombo. Graham Thorpe made an undefeated 100 in the first innings and carried his bat again the second innings, when we only needed 70 odd to win. The heat there was intense and I think he lost almost a stone in weight in two days. I mean, that was amazing technique and guts and determination. That was terrific.’
Looking back to when he was a little boy, he recalls that his dad was a cricket nut and that probably one of the first toys he had was a cricket bat. ‘So cricket is very much in my blood. I played for my prep school, and then went on to Malvern College in Worcester. I got in the First XI in my first year there and captained the side for two years. I played a little bit for Hertfordshire, not much because I had to work then, but I played for the Royal Air Force during my National Service. I enjoyed Kent 2nd XI enormously, particularly when Peter Richardson came down from Worcestershire, and we were wonderfully captained by Derek Ufton. I was offered professional terms by Leslie Ames, who was then secretary, which I turned down basically because I had to earn more money. I was going out with my wife-to-be at the time and the money in those days for a professional cricketer was pretty small, and I just felt that I would rather play cricket as an amateur than turn pro. So I played for the Band of Brothers, a wandering Kent side, for MCC and a lot for Wimbledon.’
As a player, spectator and from his time with the ECB and MCC, Ian has developed an enormous affection for Lord’s. ‘The first time I played there, there must have been at least five people in the ground! MCC were playing the USA. They used to have an old boy who opened the gate for you as you went into bat and I remember, as I walked down the steps, he opened the gate and said, “Good luck, sir. Remember all the famous people who have been here before you.” And you think, “Wow.”
‘It has been a huge privilege to be a part of this wonderful game and to meet the people that have been involved. In some small way as a player, as an administrator, with MCC, with the ECB – if you have been able to put something back into the game in a positive way then I think it is a huge privilege to be able to have done that. Not too many people have had the opportunity that I have had to give back to something that I really loved.
‘I could go on talking to you about cricket all day. All else apart, it has taught me leadership qualities, it taught me how to get the best out of people, in running Tesco particularly, and Vodafone, and the other businesses I have been involved with. It has taught me the huge importance of teamwork in everything that you do.
‘You know,’ he concludes, ‘it is a very humbling game, so you certainly don’t want to get too cocky about anything, because as soon as you get too ambitious or a bit over-the-top, then you are knocked down very quickly.’
As I leave, I thank him for his time, for the cricket chat and, perhaps too profusely, for the coffee: far better than any on offer on the high street and the first brewed exclusively for me by a member of the House of Lords.