Life and Career
Lewis was the last man to captain England on his Test debut. He led England on a gruelling five month tour in 1972/73 to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Despite having no Test match experience, Lewis scored 70 not out in his debut Test in Delhi, which guided England to their first victory on the Indian subcontinent for more than two decades. England lost the next two Tests, but Lewis went on to score his maiden Test hundred (125) in Kanpur. He went on to captain England a total of eight times, achieving England's first Test victory in India since 1951, losing twice and drawing five times. In light of his achievements, Lewis was picked as vice captain to Ray Illingworth, when the latter returned from his self-imposed hiatus the following summer. Lewis is one of two English cricket captains to come out of Neath Grammar School for Boys, the other being C. F. Walters, nominated for a single Test when captains were always chosen from the amateurs in the team.
Lewis also played rugby union and won a blue for Cambridge in The Varsity Match in 1959. Chronic knee trouble, which had curtailed his rugby career, meant that Lewis retired from cricket at the age of 35, but writing and broadcasting had always been his main pursuit from 1963. He was a founding member of the Sports Council for Wales in 1968 and put in long service to Glamorgan County Cricket Club as Chairman, President and Trustee. He served eight years as Chairman of the Wales Tourist Board and as a member of the British Tourist Authority. He was chairman of the successful Wales Ryder Cup Bid 2010 and for three years he was Chairman of the Welsh National Opera Company. His first Committee work for the Marylebone Cricket Club was in 1964, and his last in 2011 and apart from being MCC Millennium President, 1998-2000, he chaired both the Cricket Committee for five years and formed and chaired MCC's World Cricket Committee, 2006-2011. In 2011 the MCC Committee bestowed on him the highest recognition for his contributions by making him the 31st Honorary Life Vice-President of the Club.
Lewis served a year as High Sheriff of Mid Glamorgan for 1998. He was awarded the CBE for services to cricket, broadcasting and Wales, in the 2004 New Year Honours.
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