Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk committee. He had managed his own tour of the West Indies with a Duke of Norfolk's XI in 1956–67, which had included the England players Tom Graveney, John Warr, Doug Wright and Willie Watson, and would organise another in 1969–70. His father, the 15th Duke, had built the picturesque Arundel Castle Cricket Ground and the Duke hosted matches against touring teams there from 1954, a tradition continued by his wife Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk after his death in 1975. He was not a good cricketer, even at village green level, and it was customary to let him get off the
West Dean House known reference to the West Dean Estate is found in the "Domesday Book" in 1086, where it was included in the manor of Singleton as, a forest and hunting park. The Earls of Arundel and the Dukes of Norfolk held these lands for almost 500 years until 1572, when the 4th Duke of Norfolk was accused of treason. He was stripped of his possessions by Elizabeth I and then beheaded . She later restored the properties and title to the Duke's eldest son Phillip. It was Phillip who built the first manor house at West Dean, West Sussex in 1603,