Surrey County Cricket Club was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Tony Pannell, aged 87, at his home in Norfolk.
Tony was an early Chairman of the Surrey Cricket Board and worked tirelessly to help improve the game in Surrey, at all levels.
The Club flag at The Kia Oval was flown at half mast in his honour.
Richard Spiller pays tribute.
Tying together the separate strands of cricket in Surrey was an essential task to which Tony Pannell dedicated much time and energy.
The game in schools, clubs and leagues, among women and girls, disabled players, facilities, coach education and safeguarding all now come under the umbrella of the Surrey Cricket.
It was Pannell who began bringing them under one umbrella as the chairman of what began as the Surrey Cricket Council, graduated into the Surrey Cricket Board and has become the SCF, presiding with a genial authority.
“Tony did an immense amount of work tying the many strands in together,” said Mike Edwards, the former Surrey opener who was appointed by Pannell as Cricket Development Officer in the 1980s, their task to ensure the game across Surrey moved forward as a single entity, from grassroots to first-class level
Based in Ewhurst, Pannell was a PE teacher who became a senior figure within Surrey County Council’s education department. As urbane as he was industrious, he remained passionate about both education and cricket throughout his life, becoming treasurer of the British Association of Advisers and Lecturers in Physical Education.
As a younger man he had been an accomplished batsman for Ewhurst who also bowled.
After retirement, Pannell was appointed an Honorary Life Vice President of Surrey County Cricket Club and moved to Norfolk with his second wife, Suzanne, where he passed away at his home in Great Snoring on April 23 this year.
