Somerset County Cricket Club tribute to Charles Clark

Mr Clark, the husband of Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow, had been on the committee at the club since 2010 and became chairman in January 2018.

He had been a life-long supporter of his home county and described his role as chairman as "a dream post".

The club has issued a statement speaking of the "great sadness" at his death from cancer.

Somerset chief executive Andrew Cornish said: "In the short time that I knew Charles I found him to be a man of great integrity.

"His passion for Somerset cricket was second to none and his enthusiasm for the club was infectious. He also took a huge amount of pride in his work.

"Even as his health faltered, his love for the club remained undiminished.

"We are all so pleased that Charles was able to be at Lord’s to see the club that he loved lift the Royal London One Day Cup on that fabulous day.

"The thoughts of everyone at the club are with his wife Rebecca and his entire family at this sad time."

Somerset president Brian Rose said: "I knew Charles for a long time, and he was a Somerset man through and through.

"He took a huge interest in every element of the club, from the progress of the academy players all the way through to the development of the Cooper Associates County Ground.

"Charles was of the opinion that Somerset was the best club in the country, and he made it his mission to convince everyone that he met that this was the case.

"He took his role very seriously and took huge pride in how the county club was helping to develop the game from grass roots level through to the International arena.

"Somerset matches won’t be quite the same without him."

Mr Clark always remembered his first visit to watch Somerset at the County Ground.

He once recalled: "My father was an auctioneer in Taunton Market and he brought me across to my first ever game in July 1967.

"We were playing Pakistan that day. That year my grandfather gave me my first ever Wisden and I have got every year since then."