Ian was born in Greater Manchester in 1948 where he lived until 1978 when he moved to Bracknell as part of a relocation for the company he worked for ICL, a large computing business. Ian was without question a cricket enthusiast, his other passions in life included horse racing and music.

Ian first got seriously involved with Royal Ascot Cricket Club in the late 90’s as a club umpire. In those days Ian would mainly be found at the club for Sunday or midweek games as he was committed to Burnham CC for Saturday’s both umpiring and scoring for their 2nd team.

Ian was a big advocate of Sunday cricket as he saw it as a chance for players of all ages and abilities to play together in a more relaxed format. It was clear Ian saw himself as an extension of the team and was always keen to join in the after game activities which often involved dinner out somewhere or as Ian referred to it a good bit of ‘nose bag’.

Ian had a great sense of humour and enjoyed getting involved in the team banter even at times if it was at his own expense. He was a much loved part of the team and therefore invited whenever the club went on tour, often to South Wales.

As the week went Ian would often lose patience with the younger members of the tour party whose performances would suffer as the units of alcohol took control, but that would never put him off returning the following year.

Ian also loved getting involved in the annual Thursday of Royal Ascot on the heath,  with his carrier bag with sandwiches and a few cans of ale along with a copy of the racing post and regardless of the weather a hat and often a coat.

From the mid 2000s we managed to persuade Ian to stand for the club on Saturdays in league matches for any team. He was comfortable at any level and stood in a number of first team games when the team was in Level 3.

As the years moved on Ian spent most Saturdays at Locks Ride umpiring for the 3rd XI, he would often refer to the 3’s as his team and genuinely saw himself as part of the team. Ian was never one for favouring his clubs on individual decisions but did offer words of encouragement for Ascot bowlers and batsman during the game.

He went out of his way to offer advice and support for all players but in particular younger players and it’s amazing how many players have mentioned this over recent days.

Ian will be remembered for his generosity to the club with the Ian Pamphilon fence as a great example of this which was a sizable donation to the club. Some of you won’t know but Ian has also made a very recent donation so that fence can be extended which the club hopes to get in place over the coming weeks.

His financial contributions are clear to see but perhaps it is easy to overlook what an outstanding servant to the club he has been. Ian will have umpired or scored well over 600 games for the club. That is a serious time commitment.

Not only has he done this with a cheerful outlook and passion for the game but also in the face of serious ill-health. His support and encouragement to all members of the club has been absolutely fantastic. He will be sorely missed by all at the club.

RIP Ian