Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Melville Richard John Guest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relations |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1964–1966 | Oxford University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1961–1966 | Wiltshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1964 | Somerset 2nd XI | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First-class debut | 10 June 1964 Oxford University v Hampshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source:CricketArchive,11 March 2011 |
Melville Richard John Guest OBE (born 18 November 1943) is a British former diplomat and first-class cricketer.
He was born in what was then Salisbury,Southern Rhodesia,two weeks after the death of his father,Ernest Melville Charles Guest,a RAF pilot who was killed in action over the English Channel. [1] He was educated at Rugby School and Magdalen College,Oxford,. [2] At Rugby he was captain of both rugby and cricket and played for the English Public Schools in both sports. He gained an Exhibition to Magdalen where he played cricket for the University from 1964 to 1966 and earned a Blue. He also earned a Blue for Rackets,as captain of the Oxford Rackets team (1966),having been victorious in the Varsity match the previous year with J Q Greenstock as his partner (qv) against Howard Angus (qv) and M G Griffith (qv). In the Varsity Match of 1965,after Oxford lost three early wickets,Guest and his fellow batsman Mike Groves were barracked by the crowd for slow scoring,with 13 consecutive maiden overs bowled by the two Cambridge spinners. [3] His highest score was 175 vs The Army (1965 - 3-day but not First Class)). He was elected President of Vincent's Club in 1966. [4] In 2011 he chaired a committee of Vincent's alumni formed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Club and raised funds,inter alia,for an award scheme for scholar athletes,later becoming chair of the 'Trustees' (VATC).
He entered the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1966,with a first posting to Tokyo in 1967,initially to learn Japanese. After a tour of duty in Paris,he temporarily left the FCO and was managing director of Lucas France from 1980 to 1985. He was then a director of the Channel Tunnel Group before returning to the FCO in Tokyo in 1986 as commercial counsellor. His last overseas posting was as political counsellor and consul general in Stockholm. He returned to the UK as head of the South Pacific department and then head of the South East Asia department. He left the FCO to become chief executive of Asia House,during which time he also took the role of executive director of the UK-Korea Forum for the Future and of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group. He was also the secretary/rapporteur of the UK-India Round Table. [5] He was a senior advisor for corporate and external affairs to Imperial College,London,2005–13. [2]
He was appointed OBE in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to Britain's relations with Asia. [6] [7] In the same year he received the official Commendation of the Japanese Foreign Minister for services to the UK's relations with Japan.
Michael John Knight Smith,better known as M. J. K. Smith or Mike Smith,is an English former cricketer who was captain of Oxford University Cricket Club (1956),Warwickshire County Cricket Club (1957–1967) and the England cricket team (1963–1966). He was one of England's most popular cricket captains and,as he also played rugby union,Smith was England's last double international.
The Oxford University Parks,commonly referred to locally as the University Parks,or just The Parks,is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford,England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell,though a small plot of land called Mesopotamia sits between the upper and lower levels of the river. To the north of the parks is Norham Gardens and Lady Margaret Hall,to the west the Parks Road,and the Science Area on South Parks Road to the south. The park is open to the public during the day,and has gardens,large sports fields,and exotic plants. It includes a cricket ground used by Oxford University Cricket Club.
Robert Maskew Cowper is a former cricketer who played Test cricket for Australia from 1964 to 1968,and Sheffield Shield cricket for Victoria and Western Australia from 1960 to 1970.
John Richard Reid was a New Zealand cricketer who captained New Zealand in 34 Test matches. He was New Zealand's eighth Test captain and the first to achieve victory,both at home,against the West Indies in 1956,and away,against South Africa in 1962.
Vernon Seymour Ransford OBE was an Australian cricketer who played in 20 Test matches between 1907 and 1912.
Ernest William "Jim" Swanton was an English journalist and author,chiefly known for being a cricket writer and commentator under his initials,E. W. Swanton. He worked as a sports journalist for The Daily Telegraph and as a broadcaster for BBC Radio for 30 years. He was a regular commentator on Test Match Special,easily recognised by his distinctive "fruity" voice. After "retiring" in the 1970s,he continued to write occasional articles and columns until his death in 2000.
Alan Melville was a South African cricketer who played in 11 Tests from 1938 to 1949. He was born in Carnarvon,Northern Cape,South Africa and died at Sabie,Transvaal.
Harold Geoffrey Owen Owen-Smith,known as Tuppy Smith,was a South African cricketer who played Test cricket for South Africa and a rugby player who played for and captained the England rugby union team. He was born in Rondebosch,Cape Town,and died at Rosebank,also in Cape Town.
Henry Knollys Foster MBE was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University and Worcestershire. He first played for Worcestershire in 1888 at the age of only 14.
Major Henry Brougham was an English rugby union and rackets player.
Jack Gale Wilmot Davies was an English psychologist and sportsman who played first-class cricket and top-level rugby union. He served in the War Office during World War II and was a noted academic psychologist. He served as the President of MCC in 1985–1986 and was the tenth person elected an Honorary Life Vice-President of the club.
Rev. George Barkley Raikes was an English sportsman who played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Hampshire as well as representing the England national football team.
John Donald Martin is an English retired cricketer who played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Somerset. He also played Minor Counties cricket for Oxfordshire and Berkshire. He was born in Oxford.
Michael Godfrey Melvin Groves is a former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Western Province,Oxford University,Somerset County Cricket Club,Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Free Foresters between 1961 and 1968. He was born at Taihape,Manawatu,New Zealand.
Nigel Marcus Baker is a British diplomat,who was formerly Ambassador to Bolivia and Ambassador to the Holy See. He was Head of the Latin America department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2016 to 2019,and in August 2020 took up his appointment as British Ambassador to Slovakia.
Francis Raymond Baker is a British diplomat and civil servant who was Ambassador to Libya from February 2018 to April 2019. He was Ambassador to Kuwait from 2010 to 2014,and Ambassador to Iraq from 2014 to 2017.
Edward Richard Bebbington Hyde is an English wicketkeeper batsman. He was born in Huntingdon and attended St John's College School in Cambridge and Tonbridge School. He was then awarded a Skinners' Company exhibition to Jesus College,Cambridge.
The Hon. Henry Thomas Coventry was an English first-class cricketer.
Frederick Henry Browning was an English first-class cricketer,rackets player and British Army officer.
Herbert Wilson Gardner was an English first-class cricketer and solicitor.