Phil Carling 1946 - 2023 RIP

 

Philip George Carling

                                                                                   

Phil Carling was born on 25th November 1946 at Carshalton in Surrey. He was educated at Kingston Grammar School and St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge. A left-hand bat and occasional wicket-keeper, Carling first appeared for Surrey Second XI in 1966 making 11 appearances in  Second Eleven Championship for the Brown Caps with his last appearance in 1976.

During his time at Cambridge, he appeared in 30 first-class games for the Light Blues between 1967 and 1970 scoring 1,160 runs @22.30 with a top score of 104 in successful run chase against county champions Glamorgan at Fenner’s in 1970. Glamorgan chased 292 with only two wickets down with Carling adding 225 for the second wicket with the legendary Pakistani batter Majid Khan, ironically a Glamorgan player at the time! Amongst Carling’s team mates that day was Peter Johnson (Notts 1970-1977). Carling’s made two first-class appearances at Fenner’s against Notts (in 1967 and 1969 respectively scoring 41 runs @13.66). Carling made one appearance for Cambridgeshire in the Minor Counties Championship in 1972.

In addition to winning a Cricket Blue at Cambridge in 1968 and 1970, Phil also won a Hockey Blue. He was also a talented squash player and golfer. He played club cricket for, amongst others, Malden Wanderers CC.

At the end of November 1977 the Notts committee announced the creation of a new post of Chief Executive and appointed 30-year-old Carling. He had been Managing Director of Lambton Squash Club located at Kensington in London and had advised Notts when Trent Bridge Squash Club opened in 1974. The Notts committee saw the Chief Executive role as an administrator and at the same time appointed a separate manager (Ken Taylor) to handle the cricketing operation. Carling had a challenging start to the new post, Clive Rice had been appointed as Notts captain for 1978, but just prior to the commencement of the season, Rice signed for Kerry Packer’s World Series organisation. The committee sacked Rice following an emergency meeting. Carling was sent to London to meet Richard Hadlee who had come to play in an International Indoor Cricket Tournament at Wembley. Hadlee signed a three-year contract but then World Series lawyers on Rice’s behalf then sought a High Court injunction to declare Rice’s contract with Notts was still valid. The Notts committee took further legal advice and agreed to reinstate Rice as a player, but Mike Smedley regained the captaincy. The rest as they say is history!

Carling was instrumental in 1979 in appointing Dave Pullan as General Manager and Brian Robson as secretary. Amongst other innovations that season was Trent Bridge Monthly, a newspaper which gave news and regarding the County Club. The highlight of Carling’s stay was Notts winning their first county championship title in 52 years in 1981. During his time at Trent Bridge. Carling made two appearances for Notts in the Second Eleven Championship, scoring two not out v Glamorgan at John Player Ground on Aspley Lane in 1978 and six versus Warwickshire at Bulls Head Ground in Coventry in 1980. Carling stayed at Notts until the end of the 1982 season when he took up a similar job at Glamorgan CCC.

Carling stayed at the Welsh county until 1990 where he oversaw some important improvements to the Glamorgan’s commercial operations. After leaving Glamorgan, he served as Chair of the Sports Council for Wales and as a Board Member of UK Sport and the UK Sports Cabinet from 2004 to 2010. He was also Chair of UK Sport's Remuneration and Audit Committees. He was then appointed Vice Chair of the United Kingdom Anti-Doping agency. Carling died of cancer on 12th November 2023 in Penarth, Glamorgan, 13 days short of his 77th birthday.

Glamorgan Obituary

The Club is saddened to learn of the recent passing of former Glamorgan County Cricket Club Secretary and Chief Executive Phil Carling.

Phil was in post from 1983 until 1990 during which time he oversaw some important improvements to the Club’s commercial operations. He was also present with other leading officials at Sophia Gardens in July 1987, when the Club hosted a visit by HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Princess of Wales to launch the club’s Centenary Year.

Born in Carshalton, Surrey in November 1946, Phil was educated at Kingston Grammar School and St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge.
During his days as an undergraduate at Cambridge, he enjoyed a brief career in first-class cricket from 1967 until 1970, with the left -handed batter starring in the Light Blues side of 1970, alongside Majid Khan and Roger Knight. That summer Phil posted his one and only first-class hundred, against Glamorgan at Fenner’s, during a second-wicket stand of 225 with Majid, which helped to see Cambridge to an eight-wicket win.

In addition to winning a Cricket Blue at Cambridge, Phil also won a Hockey Blue. He was also a talented squash player and golfer. He played club cricket for, amongst others, Malden Wanderers CC as well as occasionally for Surrey 2nd XI from 1966 and 1976.

After coming down from Cambridge he went into sports administration, initially at Nottinghamshire where he played a leading role in the creation of the squash facilities at Trent Bridge, before rising to the position of Club’s Secretary prior to moving to South Wales where he succeeded Phil Clift as the Secretary of Glamorgan County Cricket Club in 1983.

Phil brought a sharper commercial edge to the Welsh county’s administration and during his time with Glamorgan he helped the Club secure their first major sponsorship deal with Peter Llewellyn Ltd. Together with his team of young executives, Phil also clinched a lucrative deal with the Neath Development Partnership which resulted in Glamorgan’s matches against the Australians in 1985, 1989 and 1993 being staged at The Gnoll, Neath, rather than St Helen’s, Swansea, as had been the case in previous years.

During the Spring of 1986 Phil oversaw the move of the Club offices from their city-centre location at 6, High Street, to the Sophia Gardens ground, as well as overseeing several other improvements at both Cardiff and Swansea with new facilities for corporate hospitality. Phil was instrumental in securing a sponsorship deal with Cardiff-based Allied Steel and Wire whose partnership saw a number of initiatives in grassroots cricket in Wales.

After leaving Glamorgan, Phil worked in various roles with the Sports Council for Wales and in January 2004 he succeeded Gareth Davies as their Chair.

On hearing the news of Phil’s passing, current chief executive Hugh Morris said: “Everyone at Glamorgan is saddened to hear of the recent passing of Phil Carling. As the first of a new breed of First-Class County chief executives, he brought a more focused approach to our commercial operations which enabled additional investment into developing local talent. Phil made very significant contributions, not only to Glamorgan cricket, but also to wider sport and sporting organisations in Wales. Despite his health challenges, we were delighted to host Phil at the final Welsh Fire home game at the end of last season, which gave him plenty of time to reminisce of the huge changes the game had undergone since his involvement in the game.”