Ronald Aird was an English first-class cricketer, cricket administrator and British Army officer.
29 Facts About Ronnie Aird
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Ronnie Aird began his first-class cricket career with Hampshire County Cricket Club in 1920, making over 100 appearances for the county in which he scored over 3,600 runs.
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Ronnie Aird served as assistant secretary under William Findlay and Rowan Rait Kerr, and was himself elected secretary following Kerr's retirement in 1952.
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Ronnie Aird remained in the post until 1962 and became MCC president in 1968, the year in which he chaired the special general meeting of the MCC over relations with South Africa during the D'Oliveira affair.
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Ronnie Aird was president of Hampshire County Cricket Club from 1971 to 1983.
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Outside of cricket, Ronnie Aird served in the Second World War with the Royal Armoured Corps and was decorated with the Military Cross.
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The son of Malcolm Rucker Ronnie Aird, who was the son of Sir John Ronnie Aird, he was born at Paddington in May 1902.
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Ronnie Aird was educated at Eton College, where he played for the college cricket team in the Eton v Winchester matches.
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Ronnie Aird was active in rackets at Eton, reaching the pairs final at Queen's Club twice.
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Ronnie Aird gained a blue in 1923, a season in which he made 12 appearances for the university, largely due to his performance against Yorkshire, when he scored 64 against a strong bowling line-up containing George Macaulay, Wilfred Rhodes, Emmott Robinson and Abe Waddington.
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Ronnie Aird played first-class cricket for Hampshire until 1938, making 108 appearances for the county.
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Ronnie Aird was known, on occasion, to deputise as captain for Lionel Tennyson, doing so for matches in 1924,1926 and 1931.
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Ronnie Aird scored 3,603 runs for Hampshire at an average of 22.24; he made four centuries and ten half centuries.
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Ronnie Aird began his association with the Marylebone Cricket Club when he was appointed assistant secretary in 1926, with William Findlay succeeding Francis Lacey as MCC secretary in the same year.
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Ronnie Aird played first-class cricket for the MCC from 1927 to 1939, making fifteen appearances and scoring 520 runs at an average of exactly 26.
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Ronnie Aird maintained his role as assistant secretary in 1936, when Findlay was succeeded as secretary by Rowan Rait Kerr.
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Ronnie Aird served in the British Army during the Second World War, being commissioned as a lieutenant into the Royal Armoured Corps in August 1939, a day before the outbreak of hostilities.
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Ronnie Aird saw action during the North African campaign and was wounded several times, once severely.
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Ronnie Aird had been the sole survivor of a destroyed tank on two occasions.
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Ronnie Aird was awarded the Military Cross in November 1942.
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Ronnie Aird remained in the military following the war, transferring to the 4th County of London Yeomanry.
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Ronnie Aird was conferred the Territorial Decoration in April 1951, at which point he held the rank of captain.
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Ronnie Aird exceeded the age limit for liability to recall in August 1952, at which point he ceased to belong to the Reserve of Officers, but was allowed to retain his honorary rank of major.
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Ronnie Aird retired in 1962, being succeeded as secretary by Billy Griffith.
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Ronnie Aird praised D'Oliveria for the great dignity that he had maintained throughout the affair.
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Ronnie Aird was elected a trustee of the MCC in 1971, a position he held until his appointment as a life vice-president in 1983.
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Ronnie Aird was involved with I Zingari for over fifty years, as secretary and treasurer, helping raise the club from the low esteem with which it had fallen to in the 1920s, to a club whose membership again became popular.
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Outside of cricket, Aird competed at Lord's in real tennis, winning the silver racket six times between 1933 and 1949, though he never won the gold racket, being defeated twice by Baron Aberdare and four times by W D Macpherson.
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Ronnie Aird's move there bought him close to nearby Arundel, with Aird becoming associated with the Friends of Arundel Castle Cricket Ground, to whom he provided much wisdom and experience.