Born at Hartford, Cheshire in 1953, the younger son of Lord Rochester, Tim Lamb was schooled at Shrewsbury before going on to Oxford University. He made his first-class debut in 1973 and he attained blues both years in 1973 and 1974. He represented Middlesex in 36 matches between 1974 and 1977 before he moved to Northamptonshire for whom he played 108 matches between 1978 and 1983. During his career with the ball, he took 361 wickets (av. 28.97) with a best performance of 7 for 56 for Northamptonshire versus Cambridge University at Fenner's in 1980. With the bat he scored 1,274 runs (av. 12.49) with a top score of 77 for Middlesex versus Nottinghamshire at Lord's in 1976 and he also held 40 catches. He moved back to Lord's in 1983 when he was appointed Secretary/General Manager of Middlesex, a post he held until 1987, when he moved to the position of Cricket Secretary of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB). In 1996 after the retirement of Alan Smith, he was appointed Chief Executive of the TCCB and subsequently the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) based at Lord's, a position he held until his resignation in September 2004.
