 | THE CHAMPION CAMPAIGNER |
If Des Wilson's name seems vaguely familiar to followers of UK politics in latter part of the 20th century, it's not surprising.
Described by the magazine New Statesman as "Britain's most experienced public issues campaigner", Wilson ran the Liberal Democrats' campaign in the 1992 general election.
In a career devoted to helping boost the public profile of one organisation after another, his love of cricket took him to the England and Wales Cricket Board at the age of 62.
But after less than a year on board, the Zimbabwe issue has made his position untenable.
Born in New Zealand, Wilson garnered a reputation for innovative tactics after turning his back on a career as a sports journalist.
Aged 25, and already the director of Shelter, he famously used a stand at the Ideal Home Exhibition to show a one-room home housing six destitute people.
He is also the man widely credited with forcing the fuel industry to introduce lead-free petrol and starting the Campaign for Freedom of Information.
But it was at Friends of the Earth, which Wilson chaired between 1982 and 1986, that he made a serious impact.
The organisation was a pretty lightweight affair in those days, but Wilson played the system to get parliamentary questions asked, frequently embarrassing the government and large-scale companies.
And so when the ECB needed some clear thinking, Wilson was invited to step on board.
He was not hired exclusively to tackle the Zimbabwe issue, more to sell English cricket better than it had been sold in the past.
His remit spread to the Twenty20 Cup, in finding new sponsorship in the shape of Totesport for the Sunday League and even in upgrading the ECB's website.
But it was surely no coincidence that his introduction in June 2003 came at a time when Lord MacLaurin, the ECB's principle "mover and shaker" since its inception seven years ago, had recently stepped down.
MacLaurin was succeeded by David Morgan, a man with noble intentions but also a softly-spoken individual who was not going to proclaim the wonders of English cricket from the nearest rooftop.
And Wilson has earned plenty of praise from MacLaurin in making his decision to leave the ECB.
|  I have known Des for a long time and I admire him greatly; he is a man of high principle |
MacLaurin is chairman of Vodafone, the England team sponsor which is fiercely opposed to the Zimbabwe tour.
Wilson, too, as a man who has supported the underdog throughout his working life, was always likely to feel personally drawn to cancelling the tour.
Perhaps he thought he could carry the rest of the ECB with him in designing his "framework for rational decision-making" when considering tours.
But if he did, he thought wrong.
The ECB may have pulled off a substantial coup by signing Wilson in the first place.
But when considering the cold reality of possibly cancelling the tour - and the potentially severe financial hit - they have been unable to cling onto the coat-tails of the champion campaigner.
MMIX
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