Michael Marshall (politician) - Outside Politics

Outside Politics

Marshall was a keen cricketer, having played for Harvard and Nepal. He captained the Lords and Commons Cricket XI, was a member of the MCC, and was active in the Lord's Taverners. He also commentated on cricket in India for the BBC, and was a member of the All India Radio Test match panel during his 10 years working in India. He also played golf, and was a member of the Royal & Ancient in St Andrews and a club near Worthing.

He was also an author. He published Top Hat and Tails in 1979, a biography of Jack Buchanan; The Timetable of Technology in 1982; Gentlemen and Players in 1987, an account of the annual Gentlemen versus Players cricket matches held between English first-class cricket amateurs and their professional colleagues from 1919 to 1962; Cricket at the Castle in 1995, about cricket at Arundel Castle Cricket Club; and More Sussex Seams in 1999. He also wrote five plays for television, and biographies for radio, and edited two volumes of monologues by Stanley Holloway, published in 1979 and 1980, as well as The Book of Comic and Dramatic Monologues, published in 1981.

He was interested in the theatre, and was a member of Equity and Bafta. He was a trustee of the Theatres Trust from 1987 to 1999, and became Chairman of the Chichester Festival Theatre Trust in 1997. He was a member of the Garrick Club and the Beefsteak Club. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He was diagnosed with cancer in 1998, but continued to be active. He died in Chichester and his funeral was held at Slindon Roman Catholic Church. At his subsequent memorial service at Arundel Cathedral, John Major gave an address.