Jon's connection with Lymington Cricket Club came initially in 1982 when son Stephen joined the club and soon went on to be part of two Southern League winning sides at Lymington in 1983 and 1985, as well as playing professionally for Hampshire and Essex. Jon, meanwhile, was much involved at Highcliffe Cricket Club, but as his sons Guy and Jason came to play at Lymington as juniors, he became more involved with the club. He was a club umpire from 1991 to 1997 and a committee member for three years from 1992. Jon and wife Victoria were elected as vice-presidents in 1985. As an umpire Jon was meticulous in his approach, and as Jerry Holt recalls, "he was the only umpire I have seen in club cricket who measured the creases with a tape measure prior to a match". Indeed, Jon's regular on-field 'discussions' with Chris Noble about that bowler's habit of running into the 'danger area' caused much amusement, with neither party willing to concede any ground, even when Jon's legendary tape measure was duly produced!

Hailing from the small community of Bunnythorpe on New Zealand's North Island, Jon was a farm boy who rode his horse to school. He was a New Zealand cycling champion by all accounts but it was his talent for singing that would bring him fame and a move to the other side of the world. Jon began his singing career with New Zealand Opera before coming to Britain in 1962 to join Sadler Wells. In an illustrious career he performed at some of the world's top opera houses from Covent Garden to Milan's La Scala, and he sang principal roles with all the major British opera companies including the Royal Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Jon sang on five continents, and was recognised as probably the number one Wagnerian helden tenor in the world in the 1970s. After retiring from the professional stage in 1986, he became a renowned vocal coach in Bournemouth in 1990, mentoring numerous successful pupils including the highly respected international soprano Kate Royal. At the age of 80, Jon achieved a world record by being the oldest tenor to sing Otello at a concert performance at London’s Blackheath Halls, the performance earning him a spot in the Guinness Book of Records.

Jon was popular member of his local Bournemouth community, becoming chairman and later president of the Richmond Park Conservative Club and, as mentioned, he was well known at Highcliffe Cricket Club where he made the teas because, as he once explained to son Stephen, "they don’t pick me for my cricketing abilities". Not that Jon wasn't suitably qualified to undertake tea-making duties, he was a master baker whose speciality was his pavlova which, as he would vigorously point out, was a New Zealand invention, not "Austruckingfalian!".

Jon was always on the lookout for unusual things to do, from barrel throwing, riding a bicycle from Land's End to John O'Groats or participating in a self-sufficiency week on an island in Poole Harbour. Through such ventures Jon raised more than £25,000 for various causes. He loved his sport, but as Stephen points out, "not in the conventional way. He loved sport because whenever or wherever there was a sporting contest, there will be men, gathering, watching and above all, drinking, so the sport was secondary, the drinking and frivolity was at the forefront."

Ebullient, fun loving and colourful in equal measure, Jon was always a pleasure to be around. Jerry Holt, who regularly opened the batting for the Second XI around the time Jon was umpiring, said, "Jon was always entertaining after matches and had a wealth of stories from his days as an international tenor and his love of cricket was very much in evidence as he would dissect the minutiae of the game over a pint at the bar. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him at Lymington Cricket Club".