On the day that it was confirmed that the ECB would have to start looking for a new chairman, the verdict of the English press was that Lord MacLaurin's five-year tenure had been a largely successful one. But what exactly was his legacy? In The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins felt that he will be remembered for bringing about "a huge increase in television revenue and an England team that is growing in strength". Ultimately, that TV deal was MacLaurin's ace. John Etheridge in The Sun said it "helped the counties remain solvent. In effect, MacLaurin started a bidding war - and the result was the Channel 4/Sky three-year contract worth £147million. This was a 52 per cent rise on the previous deal at a time when money from TV rights in many sports was diminishing."

Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph agreed: "Having used his considerable clout to get cricket de-listed from terrestrial television ... and introduced central contracts as well as two divisions, he probably feels as if he has been kicked in the teeth. But if he leaves most aspects of cricket in better shape than he found them, the game has a funny way of expressing its gratitude."

CMJ felt MacLaurin had "jumped before he was pushed", with the last unofficial poll suggesting he would have lost an election against Michael Soper, the Surrey chairman. CMJ said that MacLaurin "has his faults, notably a tendency to make clumsy public statements on international affairs, but cricket in England and Wales has been lucky to have been led for six years by a strong, shrewd, personable and influential businessman who gave much of his time to a game he loves without any financial reward."

MacLaurin's flaws were not glossed over, though. Etheridge said that "he was outspoken and his words often caused dismay at the the ECB - notably when he said the Pakistanis suspected of match-fixing should be suspended, while supporting the accused Alec Stewart. And his appointment of Simon Pack ... as international teams director was a disaster."

But ultimately, most felt, MacLaurin's work was to the good of English cricket. Pringle said "he moved [the counties] out of the 19th century." In The Guardian, Mike Selvey concurred, and felt that MacLaurin chose to give up his post because of "the idea that he has made as much headway as he can in bringing cricket administration in this country into the 21st century. Twenty years ago the old Test and County Cricket Board ran the game from a couple of rooms on the top floor of the Lord's pavilion with a staff of around a dozen. Today the ECB offices are self-contained at the Nursery End of the ground with 84 employees ranging from chief executive to IT support analyst."

The last word, however, goes to Etheridge, who neatly summed up the mood of the press boys. "Perma-tanned MacLaurin always looks immaculate and there is no question a man who worked his way through the ranks to become boss of Tesco deserved respect." As chairman of the ECB, he certainly had that.

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