'He was a genuinely helpful and lovely man' (From Watford Observer)

Tributes paid to Hertfordshire cricket stalwart Dr David Webb OBE

10:20am Friday 9th December 2011 in Cricket By Anthony Matthews

Warm tributes have been paid to a popular and long-standing servant of Hertfodshire cricket, Dr David Webb OBE, who died suddenly on Monday, aged 79.

A former player with Clements, Watford St Johns, Bedmond and Clarendon, David was vice-chairman of Clarendon for many years and latterly was vice president of Chipperfield Clarendon. He served as a panel umpire in the county since the early 1980s, had been on the Herts League panel since its creation in 2000 and also enjoyed considerable success as an umpire instructor and examiner.

Chipperfield Clarendon chairman Grahame Gregory said cricket across the county had benefited greatly from David’s contribution and “so many umpires” had gained from his seminars.

“He was a lovely guy with a great sense of humour,” Grahame added. “He could come across as rather serious but one of the endearing things about him was his great knack of laughing at himself.”

Herts League chairman Tony Johnson spoke fondly of his work for the county, league and clubs and said: “He also helped an awful lot with senior cricket, which is strong in Herts, and that helped him keep in touch with us [senior league officials].”

David was also a good friend to this newspaper, having helped to organise the annual Watford Observer knockout competition for approaching 20 years.

“I will always remember David’s booming, cheery voice and his vice-like handshake”, said former sports editor Andrew French, who brought David on board to help with the competition. “He was always happy, always pleased to see you and always ready for a chat and a joke.

“He was a tremendous help to the Watford Observer sports desk during my time there – his knowledge and understanding of cricket helped improve our knockout no end.

“As an umpire, David was an imposing and very firm figure, but also very fair.

“He was just a genuinely helpful and lovely man.”

Those sentiments were echoed by sports editor Anthony Matthews, who said: “While I’ll miss David’s knowledge, advice and great organisational qualities, it is his support and friendship I’ll miss the most.

“Now is not the time to make decisions for I’m hoping we’ll be able to recognise David’s considerable contribution to the Watford Observer knockout in some way in the future.”