Job: professional cricketer

Attended: Dudley college in the West Midlands from 1982-84

Studied: business studies, economics, accounts and law

Born: 1976

Stuart Lampitt had a long and accomplished career with Worcestershire.

He took more than 600 wickets, including a career-best of 7 for 45 runs at New Road against Warwickshire in 2000.

In 1994 he achieved every cricketer’s dream when he scored a century against Middlesex at Lords.

He retired in 2002 and now helps young cricketers as a cricket development worker.

“College was fairly drab, Seventies-looking and uninspiring, and I have driven past since and it looks to have developed enormously and seems all the better for it.

“My studies at Dudley college helped me build a small understanding of how the country works. But it’s difficult to put that into practice on the cricket field.

“But it did also provide an insight into time management and learning to balance study with other commitments.

“My accounts teacher Mr Crouch was good, but a little serious. I suppose that could be said about the subject really, so, in hindsight, it’s not really his fault.

“My economics teacher Mrs Wilcox was also good and a nice person who I remember was also interested in my cricket - so she was the winner.

“There would be a lot of question marks about my law lessons which says it all really.

“If I had my time at college again, I would have spent less time in the refectory, studied harder and gone on to higher education and studied for a degree.

“But after college I played cricket professionally for Worcestershire.

“I wouldn’t have changed anything and the course I chose was a good one. I keep in touch with some of my college friends who went there from my old secondary school.

“My best memory is playing brag and poker in the refectory which was good for the accountancy and my worst was a 5 - 6 o’clock law lesson on Friday night.

“However, I used to keep well away from the canteen food.”

Stuart Lampitt was talking to Shekhar Bhatia