Plaque is installed at Queen's Park in memory of 'life and soul' of Chesterfield Cricket Club

Mike Taylor has been honoured for his work with Chesterfield CC with a memorial plaque at Queen's Park.

One of cricket's great stalwarts has been commemorated by a plaque on the ground he loved.

Mike Taylor was chairman of Chesterfield for 16 years until his death in May 2021.

During that time Queen's Park regained its status as a first-class venue for Derbyshire games.

Mike was a driving force behind the annual Chesterfield Festival becoming a must in the diaries of many cricket fans.

The plaque in Queen's Park commemorating former Chesterfield Cricket Club chairman Mike Taylor.

Chesterfield Borough Council have planted a tree on the ground in Mike's memory with a plaque.

Mike's widow, Jan, unveiled the plaque at a ceremony attended by more than 50 of Mike's family, friends and cricketing colleagues.

The plaque carries some of Mike's own words. "With the sun shining and some good cricket taking place there are few better places to be and when I look out there, it is with a sense of pride that I can say I play a small part in it all."

Club president Jim Crowther said: "Mike was our illustrious chairman for many years.

"He was held in the highest regard not only in our Cricket Club but in all sections of the local community - so much so that Chesterfield Borough Council have planted a tree in his beloved Queen's Park in his memory.

"I had the privilege of working closely with Mike over a number of years and came to know at first hand all the qualities he possessed."

Current chairman Nigel Mallender said: "It is impossible to do justice to Mike's many years of hard work and dedication to Chesterfield Cricket Club.

"Or to sum up the huge difference and legacy Mike has left on our Club and how much he meant to so many people, myself included.

"Mike was our leader, the life and soul of our Club and one of the finest people I have ever had the privilege to meet. I am so proud to be able to remember Mike as a friend and mentor."

He added: "Mike was supportive, dedicated, passionate, articulate, intelligent, loyal, funny, diplomatic, a role model, a mentor, a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, a friend and loved by all who knew him.

"This plaque is a fitting and lasting tribute to the great man in a corner of the beautiful Queen’s Park overlooking the cricket ground Mike so dearly loved."