David English was not just a friend of cricket, he was an entertaining, inspirational force

HUW TURBERVILL: It's so sad that English, the father of the Bunbury Festival, missed the 2022 T20 World Cup final as he would have loved seeing his Bunbarians – Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and co – on that magnificent MCG stage

The tributes to David English will centre on how he carried, sustained and inspired the Bunbury cricket festival for 15-year-olds since 1987, and rightly so.

There is one important thing about him that stands out for me and those who had the pleasure of meeting him, however: he was incredibly good fun.

The Cricketer was fortunate to share a number of lunches with him over the last seven years or so. His stories were hilarious, often incredible, and always expertly delivered; and he was warm, caring, incorrigible and effervescent company.

The last one in 2019, just before wretched Covid arrived which curtailed our get-togethers, was outside the Prince of Wales pub in Cleaver Square, Kennington. It was warm, leaving us with no choice but to imbibe liberally.

A group of Scots were sitting by us. They'd come to London for the weekend to celebrate a 50th birthday, watch some football, have a few beers.

One of them, John Baillie, takes up the story: "I'd never heard of this man, until we encountered him being interviewed by The Cricketer. He welcomed three Scotsmen into the group while telling some memorable stories. It was a great start to the weekend. Since then our WhatsApp group chat is called 'The Dave English Fan Club'. You could say he made an impression. An awesome human being. A legend."

^{David English, left, with The Cricketer editor Huw Turbervill, centre [supplied]}

That's quite the tribute, but it's bang on.

David English – actor, TV presenter, music manager (of the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton), amateur cricketer (he made a century for Cross Arrows at Lord's and bowled Viv Richards at Fenner's in 2006), raconteur, father, lover…

I looked forward to our catch-ups and was hoping that they'd resume now the pandemic had eased.

There'd be one before the Bunbury festival – he'd give me the latest tally of players who had graduated from the under-15 festival to go on and play for England (his pride bursting through); and then afterwards, when he told me who'd shone. He was especially excited about Warwickshire's Jacob Bethell's performance in one of the recent editions.

There is a specific connection with The Cricketer actually that probably inspired the get-togethers.

"The bunnies have lost their Bunfather and our lives are all the lesser for it"

Our publisher Ben Brocklehurst was involved with the English Schools Cricket Association under-15 festival, but it was ailing, and he asked English to step in, in 1987. He'd written a series of funny books with cartoon characters called Bunbury Tails, so the four-day event became the Bunbury Festival.

It was an inspired choice. His energy and passion gave it a new lease of life. It's travelled around the country at lovely venues, mainly schools. Teams from London & East, South & West, Midlands and North take part in 50-over and T20 matches. Sirs like Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook give up their time to turn up and present the prizes.

Ronnie Irani and John Crawley were the breakout stars of the inaugural edition at Harrow School, and Michael Vaughan, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow - almost everyone who has played for England in recent times – followed in their wake. 

Funnily enough, if he was asked to pick one player who stood out for their talent it was somebody who did not pursue a career in cricket: footballer Phil Neville. Ian Bell was the most technically gifted, he said. Ben Stokes was a "raw, feisty, talent" at the 2006 festival at Preston Nomads, Sussex, alongside Joe Root and Jos Buttler. English was convinced that John Crawley would play 100 Tests for England (instead of 37). The hardest hitter was Marcus Trescothick. Ben Hollioake was the most stylish. Buttler was the most innovative. Root was "small, cheeky and has been the biggest developer since 15."

They will all be sad in these next few days.

^{Joe Root and Jos Buttler both benefited from the Bunbury Festival [Getty Images]}

One night at each festival, English took the lads to Nando's. Those few days were the highlight of his year. He lived for it.

There was so much more to him than cricket, however.

I'll be honest, I heard the stories a few times – and some of them wouldn't slip past the editor's red pen any more in these pious times – but I didn't mind as they were so entertaining, including an unlikely encounter with Brigitte Bardot in St Tropez many years ago.

How Richard Attenborough encouraged him to organise cricket matches to raise morale on the set of A Bridge Too Far was a classic that those Scots would have been treated to. Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery and Robert Redford showed their skills with bat and ball.

"Dicky said to me, 'David, darling, well done! Marvellous for morale.'" That gratitude soon turned to fury, however. "Dicky would send the rushes back from the day to the producers, and we had an angry message from (film distributor) Joseph E Levine. It was a scene of soldiers following Connery through the woods, and in the corner we were playing cricket against the side of a tank. The scene was scrapped at some cost. Years later we were playing cricket on Richmond Green and I went to find his house nearby. 'It's David English!' he shouted when he saw me. 'You still as mad as a bicycle? You cost me half a million pounds."

He presented kids show You and Me, and had more than 100 TV parts in things like Bergerac, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and The Lady Vanishes. He took part in Ian Botham's incredible walks for leukaemia. He hosted a speaking tour of Australia with Botham and Richards.

It's so sad that he missed the 2022 T20 World Cup final as he would have loved seeing his Bunbarians – Buttler, Moeen Ali and co – on that magnificent MCG stage.

"A Bunbury stands for freedom, stands for fun; stands for ever being young; so do a good turn to others; never turn from your quest; for you are a Bunbury and a Bunbury does his best!"

The bunnies have lost their Bunfather and our lives are all the lesser for it.