Clive Leach obituary: The former cricketer who was managing director of Yorkshire TV
Clive Leach, who has died at 91, was a county cricketer who enjoyed a later career in the media, culminating in a period as managing director of Yorkshire Television.
Born in what was then Bombay, Leach was schooled at Leman Grammar in Suffolk and at Birmingham University before making his first-class debut for Warwickshire against Cambridge University in 1955.
A right-handed batsman who bowled slow left-arm orthodox, he played 38 further matches for Warwickshire, and upon release joined Durham for the 1959 season, making his Minor Counties Championship debut against Northumberland.
It was for Durham that he made his List A debut in the 1964 Gillette Cup and in 2004 he became chairman of the club.
Leach’s playing career also took him to Buckinghamshire from 1966 to 1971, where he played in the 1969 and 1970 Gillette Cup.
His business career, meanwhile, had begun in 1961 at age 27, with Tyne Tees Television in Newcastle.
During the 1970s Tyne Tees and Yorkshire Television were owned by the same holding company, Trident TV, and Leach became a leading figure in its advertising sales operation.
When the companies demerged in the early 1980s, at the insistence of the Independent Broadcasting Authority, Leach became Director of Marketing and Sales at YTV.
By the time of the next ITV franchise renewal – which saw YTV paying a higher-than-expected price to retain its broadcasting licence – Leach had succeeded Sir Paul Fox to the top job at YTV.
But a recoupling with Tyne Tees under a relaxed regulatory regime proved troublesome.
In 1993 Leach was chairman and chief executive of the combined company but was forced out following the revelation of a pre-tax loss instead of the expected profit.
That was caused by irregularities in the way the company oversold its airtime to advertisers and failed to meet its ratings targets, resulting in a huge revenue shortfall.
The exit marked the end of his TV career but a return to the cricket arena.
His 12-year tenure as Durham cricket chairman came at a time of on-field success and large-scale infrastructure and financial projects, including the expansion of the county ground to make it suitable for hosting higher-profile matches.
But despite the successful staging of an Ashes Test against Australia in 2013, heavy borrowing and unfulfilled revenue projections led to debts which by 2016 exceeded £7.5m.
In October that year the club accepted a £3.8m bailout from the England and Wales Cricket Board to avoid insolvency, but the money came at a heavy cost: relegation to Division Two, a 48-point deduction and loss of Test venue status.
Leach resigned, to be succeeded by Sir Ian Botham.
Leach had by then taken on various public sector roles with training, education, and economic development organisations in Yorkshire.
Between 1995 and 2005, he served as chairman of the Leeds Training and Enterprise Council and in the early 2000s he chaired the Leeds Learning and Skills Council.
A past president of Harrogate International Festivals and chair of Leeds Health Authority, he was awarded the CBE for services to training and education.
A committed Catholic, Leach owned and chaired the Universe Media Group, publisher of Catholic Universe. In 2018 he was awarded a Papal Knighthood by Pope Francis.