Page 301 - They Also Served

Regimental duty took him to Egypt, Korea, Libya and Germany, and he served as an instructor at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot (1958–60) and as the infantry representative at the School of Signals (1968–70). Stephenson commanded the 5th Battalion, The Queen’s Regiment, a TA infantry battalion (1973–75), after which he was awarded the OBE.
Taking early retirement from the army in 1979, Stephenson became assistant secretary of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord’s, a role he regarded as one for the rest of his working life, as the secretary was none other than his school contemporary Jack Bailey. One of his early tasks was to manage the MCC tour to East Africa, where the team’s luggage was impounded by a customs officer demanding a bribe. Stephenson, a big man as befits a rugby forward, harangued the official for 20 minutes before the by-now shame-faced official released the baggage.
In 1987, in the wake of the Packer revolution which commercialised cricket, the MCC seemed out of date and reactionary and Bailey was forced from office. Stephenson stepped up for the MCC Bicentenary at a time of turmoil: members refused to accept the annual accounts; the building of the Compton and Edrich stands at Lord’s had fallen behind schedule, and the marquee for the Bicentenary Ball blew down in a gale. That he weathered the storm physically and metaphorically was a tribute to diplomacy learned in decades of peacetime soldiering. In fact, he was the first secretary of the MCC in over a hundred years who had not played first-class cricket.
Universally known as ‘The Colonel’, his opening pep talk to the 90, mainly portly, Lord’s ground staff ended with, ‘You all need to take some exercise’. His appearance on his pre-play inspection was a staple of BBC Test Match Special coverage, with his reassuring and immaculately turned-out presence calming fears that play would not start on time. He could, however, be reactionary, describing player celebrations after the taking of a wicket: ‘I can’t understand why they want to kiss and hug like Association footballers’. However, he was also an innovator and introduced guided tours of Lord’s, as well as fostering a more welcoming atmosphere at an establishment that was seen as the very epitome of stuffy and upper-class England.
In 1981, Stephenson reached the age of retirement but was asked to stay on for another two years until a suitable replacement could be found. He described his time at Lord’s as: ‘Tougher than commanding a battalion’. Awarded the CBE for services to cricket, Lieutenant-Colonel John Stephenson died on 2nd June 2003.
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