Background
Geoffrey Howard was born in Hampstead Garden Suburb, a grandson of Sir Ebenezer Howard, a founder of the Garden City Movement, who taught him a respect for people and a love for cricket.
Geoffrey Howard was born in Hampstead Garden Suburb, a grandson of Sir Ebenezer Howard, a founder of the Garden City Movement, who taught him a respect for people and a love for cricket.
He was educated at the University College School.He is also related to the dancer and TV personality Una Stubbs.
As a right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper, he represented Middlesex in three first-class matches in 1930, whilst on annual leave from the bank for which he worked. He played for the Private Banks XI in 1926-36 and for the RAF during the Second World War, when he once made a century before lunch. He earned himself a place in cricket history as an enlightened administrator and a popular tour manager.
He was Secretary of Lancashire (1949–1965) and Surrey (1965–1975) and managed three MCC touring teams in Australia and the Indian sub-continent. The 1954-55 MCC tour of Australia was the focal point of his rich and varied life, with England winning a series in Australia for the first time since Bodyline in 1932-33. The MCC 'A' tour of Pakistan in 1955-56 was marred by an incident, when several of the England cricketers doused the umpire Idris Begh with a bucket of water and as a result a major controversy broke out.
He stayed active in retirement and was President of Surrey in 1989. He died in Minchinhampton, aged 93.