They say things come in threes and sadly following on from the passing of two great sporting legends - David Miller from the world of golf and then Ossie - we in Hampshire were rocked by the news of the death of the wonderful Colin Ingleby-MacKenzie.

Again, at 72, it was far too early as he still had the attitude and characteristics of a man half his age.

When I first arrived at Southampton in 1973, he was already revered as having led Hampshire to their first county championship having been with the club as their last amateur skipper.

He also played for the MCC, of which he eventually became president.

He got an OBE from the Queen last year, but really Sir or Lord in front of that wonderful name would have looked much better.

Colin, right, was far removed from the present-day world of cricketers with dyed hair and sponsored bats.

He was the stuff that boys used to read about in the Wizard and Hotspur comics.

He was from the times of Dennis Compton and the Australian Keith Miller who were renowned for coming in straight from a night out, changing from evening suits to whites, striding out to the wicket to thrash a century before lunch, only pausing to sweep flowing locks from their eyes.

Colin was famous, amongst other things, for having a rule for all of his players that they should all be in bed before breakfast!

I had many pleasant hours with him at the Rose Bowl last year in my role as vice president. He greeted everyone as if they were a long lost friend. He had time for everyone, no matter what their background.

And I was delighted to see him and Rod Bransgrove, in particular, enjoy that wonderful moment at Lord's when the lads won their cup at the end of last season.

One thing is for sure, if God is into sport he couldn't have got three more talented superstars around him in the last month ...