Warwick Jones, Class of 1969

Warwick Jones (Class of 1969) is a former Finance Director of the Bank of England, a lifelong cricket enthusiast, and an award-winning amateur actor. A devoted member of Surrey County Cricket Club and its General Committee, Warwick has also been deeply involved in community and educational initiatives, including as Treasurer of the charity Family Lives. His enduring passions—for cricket, theatre, and public service—can all be traced back to his school days at Trinity.

What are your fondest memories of your time at Trinity School, both in the classroom and on the cricket field?

Obviously it’s hard for people to believe now but I was never one of the ‘cool’ kids at school. I generally recall a lot of work and angst. I was always a bit worried when people said that school days are the best days of your life….they’re not, but there were some moments. I do remember the time some poor, benighted miscreant was paraded in front of a prefects’ meeting. We all sat there trying to keep a straight face while he was exhorted to ‘ameliorate his behaviour’ by the School Captain, later to become an eminent headmaster himself. Once the bemused child had left we collapsed with laughter while our leader tried to explain to the rest of us what ‘ameliorate’ meant. One contemporary couldn’t ascend to the height of ‘senior’ prefect, not through any personal defect; there just weren’t enough purple edged gowns. Luck is severely underrated by the ‘successful’. Bowling an Under 14 side out for nine, (Jones 7 for 6), is certainly a good memory. First slip took a blinding catch off me for the first wicket. Some have said that it was really the keeper’s catch, but I’m not taking that up now with the current Chair of Governors who kept, and captained, on that day 60 years ago!

Were there any teachers at Trinity who had a particular impact on you, either academically or in shaping your passion for cricket?

Two teachers stand out for me. Alan Turner, who was the second master, taught me economics but, more importantly, how to think. The other was Mike Lee who was a modern linguist. He never taught me, but he directed a couple of school plays. He inspired in me an ability to perform, (I can recall the exact moment at a Saturday morning rehearsal at school when the penny dropped), which opened all sorts of doors, both personal and professional. I always meant to tell him, but now it’s not possible. (Life lesson!)

How did your time at Trinity influence your later career in finance and your broader interests in theatre and sport?

I didn’t have any idea about a career when I left school and my interest (obsession) in cricket came from both sides of my family. My mother did a bit of amateur theatre and performing in the school plays must have flipped a switch somewhere. I was never any good at sport with the sole exception of cricket, to which I was even then fully committed. The cricket master, Frank Drewett used to call me ‘Wisden’. Bowling is such an unnatural activity that I got away with it.

You’ve been a longstanding member of Surrey County Cricket Club and have recently been elected to its General Committee—what does that role involve, and what are your hopes for the club’s future?

The Club is run by professional executive management, while the Committee is ultimately accountable to the members. It gives guidance and discusses the place of the Club in the game as a whole. Cricket is going through radical changes at the moment and the future of the counties is in flux. The importance of the county structure is that first class, ‘red ball’, cricket will never be played by franchises and this is the premier form of the game. I just want Surrey to continue as a members’ club; and win everything.

Cricket has been a tradition in your family across multiple generations—how did you pass that love of the game down to your son and now, grandchildren?

I first went to the Oval with my father in 1958. I took my son to his first Surrey game for his sixth birthday, and my grandson and granddaughter have been Surrey members since they were born. So they don’t really have an option. For me cricket demands skill, athleticism, tactics and strategy, and reveals character like few other activities. Every game is a fascinating story. A love of the greatest art form ever invented is the best legacy I can leave. When I left the Bank I managed to get into the press release that I was ‘looking forward to spending more time at the Oval, and, of course with my family’; my wife is very understanding. A ‘day at the cricket’ is a cure for most ills.

Beyond cricket, you’ve had great success in acting with the Mitre Players—what drew you to theatre, and do you see any parallels between performing on stage and playing sport?

The atmosphere in a changing room and a dressing room is similar, it’s us against them. There’s a sense of common endeavour and a fund of anecdotes and stories that bind the team or cast together, to the exclusion of others. My wife and I agreed years ago not to go to each other’s cast parties. There’s nothing more exhilarating than recounting near disasters after the production if you’ve been involved, and nothing more tedious to listen to if you’ve haven’t. I was extremely lucky to join the Mitre Players in 1974 just after they reformed and been able to play all sorts of roles. There are a lot more parts for men than women, and generally more women than men do ‘amdram’. As a result, I’ve had the opportunity to take some fantastic parts. People always ask, ‘how do you learn the words?’ I’ve always found it difficult. Getting older doesn’t help, and my fellow thespians might be tempted to say that I consider the script merely a basis for negotiation. I’ve done all sorts of stuff as well as the Mitres. I used to do Shakespeare with the old Croydon Histrionic at the Ashcroft. We’d try and do a play on the syllabus. Not all the GCE forms were absorbed by the bard and represented a number of challenges, not necessarily of a theatrical nature. Highlights would include playing Macbeth (twice),George III, Anthony Blunt and Dame, also twice. The last time involved planting an ice cream cone in, then headmaster, Robin Wilson’s face! It’s a common illusion amongst some in amateur theatricals that they could be a professional if only not cruelly deprived of the opportunity ……it is an illusion to which I have never succumbed.

Your career took you from commercial finance roles to becoming Finance Director of the Bank of England—what were some of the biggest challenges and highlights of that journey?

The Bank of England role was the most challenging and the most interesting, and it came at the end of my career. In fact I thought my full time career was over when I left my last commercial bank at the ripe old age of 55. It was the third time I’d been taken over and made redundant in ten years, and I thought that was that. The Bank job came from nowhere, but a quiet run down to retirement seemed just the ticket. However, it turned out that I had a ringside seat at the biggest financial crisis since the War; it was a fascinating, if a somewhat terrifying, experience. I seemed to accumulate responsibilities while at the Bank, including finding the building for the new bank regulator, the PRA. The building we found was on the site of my old accounting firm where I had my very first job, a curiously symmetrical ending to my career.

As Treasurer of Family Lives charity and Court Governor, you remain deeply involved in community and educational initiatives—what drives that commitment?

I can’t really remember a time before I knew the Foundation and, as with Surrey, being able to contribute to an organisation that has been part of my life for almost all of it is fascinating and rewarding. I’ve been the Treasurer of Family Lives for almost 20 years. My contribution is basically on the financial side, but being exposed to the problems some families face is a salutary reminder of how fortunate most of us are. It’s also for my own benefit. Staring absently into space for hours on end may seem to have its attractions when you are working all hours of the day and night on some crisis, but it can pall after a time. It’s vital to keep your mind engaged. Use it or lose it.

Looking back, what advice would you give to current Trinity students, whether they aspire to a career in finance, sport, or the arts?

I’m not sure how useful advice from old men is, but someone I worked for once advised me to always take as much time as you have. I’m not sure that’s very inspiring but quite helpful in stopping an unnecessary rush to judgement. Another boss claimed he ‘wasn’t scared’, somewhat bolder, if more elusive, advice. My own experience would suggest it’s rarely the things you worry about that cause the problems, it’s the clear blue sky you should be concerned about, if that isn’t a contradiction. Everything looks fine, and the weekend is around the corner, and then ‘the five o’clock fax on a Friday’ arrives; the alliteration doesn’t work with so well with email.

If you could relive one cricket match—whether as a player, spectator, or committee member— which would it be and why?

I’d have to go a long way to beat the last Test against Australia at the Oval in 2005 when England won the Ashes for the first time since it seemed like forever.

I was lucky enough to be there all five days. The spirit was fantastic throughout. The game ended oddly; the umpires came out after a break for bad light and removed the bails, to signal ‘stumps’ and a draw, and the ground exploded.........

I sent a recording of the crowd to my son with the message that this was what winning the Ashes sounds like as, at 17 years old, he’d never known.