ROBERT Neame, chairman of Faversham-based brewers Shepherd Neame, is to be Kent County Cricket Club’s president in 2003.

He will take over the role next year from former Bank of England Governor, Lord Kingsdown, at the club's annual meeting at the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, on Monday, March 17.

Mr Neame, who joined Shepherd Neame in 1956, is a former director NatWest and is a vice-president of the South East England Tourist Board, a non-executive director of Mendocino Brewing Company in America and a non-executive director of Sussex-based Merrydown PLC.