John Fingleton

Charity auctioneer and proud MCC member was a natural showman who loved the finer things in life

- Patrick Kidd

For many years, if a picture editor wanted to illustrate a story about Marylebone Cricket Club, they would invariably use a photograph of a well-lunched gentleman sitting, or occasionally snoozing, by the centre aisle in front of the pavilion.

If the scribblers wanted a caustic comment, John Fingleton was again an obvious target.

Broad in the beam and as loud in his opinions as in his multicoloured blazers, the man known as “Fingers” was hard to miss. When he grew whiskers later in life, he became the most familiar bearded, corpulent man seen at Lord’s since WG Grace, though while the Victorian all-rounder spoke with a Bristolian squeak, Fingleton had a fruity boom that he used to good effect as a highly successful charity auctioneer.

"Fingers was a fantastic performer," said Tim Rice, the lyricist and a close friend for 50 years. "You didn't realise how much money you'd been separated from until it was far too late."

In his day job as an auctioneer Fingleton handled some 500 auctions, raising £11m for charities from the Alzheimer's Society to World Horse Welfare.

When Fingers was in full flow it could be as impressive as any of the feats at Lord's, his gavel flashing like a cricket bat to dispatch any hesitantly raised hand and run up the scoreboard. A natural showman, he loved stunts, auctioning bags of air when he detected that the room was anxious to cough up. He was said to have been delighted when Jeffrey Archer went to prison as it removed his main rival.