LORD Kingsdown, a former Governor of the Bank of England and Lord Lieutenant of Kent, will take the reigns as Kent County Cricket Club’s president for the 2002 season at Monday night’s annual meeting in Maidstone.

A former barrister and Grenadier Guardsman, Lord Kingsdown was a director of NatWest Bank from 1972 to 1983 and later became Governor of the Bank of England.

Born in Sittingbourne, his family home Torry Hill, boasts its own cricket ground which plays host to regular matches for the Band of Brothers wandering club, to which Lord Kingsdown is chief.

He will be introduced to the meeting by outgoing president, former Kent wicketkeeper and Charlton and England defender Derek Ufton. The meeting, to be held at the Ramada Great Danes Hotel in Hollingbourne at 7.30pm, will also give members their first opportunity to meet and hear the views of the county’s new Australian director of cricket, Ian Brayshaw.

The club’s on-field performance for 2001 will be reviewed by chairman of cricket Mike Denness, while treasurer Alister Dunning will report improved accounts that show a six-figure drop in losses to £40,123. With Richard Collins and Graham Johnson seeking re-election to the club’s general committee, the sole vacancy seems likely to be filled by the only candidate, George Kennedy.

A 61-year-old life member of Kent, Mr Kennedy was managing director of pharmaceutical suppliers Portex prior to his retirement and a former executive director of Smiths Industries PLC, manufacturers of speedometers and aeronautical instrument panels. Well-known to the county’s players, he has organised numerous golf days and served on several benefit committees. He was proposed for the committee by Peter Edgley and seconded by Don Beney.

The meeting will also give supporters chance to debate the club’s decision to appoint one-day and four-day captains for the new season, the introduction new membership identity swipe card system and the club’s plans for their new academy ground in Beckenham.