David English, the
‘Godfather of English cricket’, died of a heart attack aged 76. The man’s
contribution to cricket, as the founder of Bunbury Schools festival, is his
lasting legacy. He was behind the rise of cricketing genius in England for
years. Jos Butler, the English cricketer, tweeted: “So sad to hear the news of
David English passing away. One of life’s great characters, so fun to spend
time with and producer of some of the best English cricketers through his
wonderful Bunbury Festivals. RIP.”

Who was David
English?

David English was
an English writer, actor and cricketer. He was born in 1946 in London, UK.
English grew up in Hendon and after school went on to work as ground staff for
the Lords Cricket Ground. He later played cricket for the Marylebone Cricket
Club.

He subsequently
had a career in acting, featuring in films such as A Bridge Too Far and
Lisztomania. English was also a journalist for Daily Mail and then wrote The
Bunbury Tails, a collection of children’s books.

The books deal
with rabbit puns on sporting personalities, mainly but not exclusively
cricketers. There are characters in the book that resemble Ian Botham (named
Ian Buntham), David Gower (Goldenhare Gower), Dennis Lillie (Dennis Lettuce),
Viv Richards (Viv Radish) and Frank Bruno (Frank Buno).  

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Having established
himself then as a writer, English went on the found the Bunbury Cricket Club,
through which he raised 14 million pounds for charity.

English’s greatest
contribution to cricket was perhaps the founding of the Bunbury Festival, a
national-level under-15s cricket tournament. The year was 1957 and English cricket
wanted David English to fund the English Cricket Board’s school cricket
competition. In return, the tournament was renamed Bunbury Festival, after his
collection of children’s books.      

The 2019 English
cricket team that won the World Cup had 10 players who had attended the Bunbury
Festival as young cricketers.