Wisden as bowling with deceptive flight. For Hampshire, he took 45 wickets at a bowling average of 20.93 and took a five wicket haul on three occasions, with best figures of 7 for 149. Administrator With the end of his first-class playing career in 1897, Lacey was nominated by Spencer Ponsonby-Fane to succeed the retiring Henry Perkins as MCC secretary, being appointed in 1898. Upon becoming secretary, he instilled a business-based approach to the running of the MCC, which was in contrast to Perkins' easy-going approach. Amongst his reforms were the remodelling of the MCC subcommittees and putting the business of the club on a more formal basis. Under his leadership, the MCC formed the Advisory County Cricket Committee, the predecessor to the Test and County Cricket Board, which was designed to bring together representatives of the first-class counties and the minor counties under the chairmanship of the MCC president. In June 1909, he was instrumental in the foundation of the Imperial Cricket Council, which had been the idea of the South African Abe Bailey and bought together the governing bodies of cricket in Australia and South Africa to form a global governing body. At the start of the First World War, Lacey issued a statement to confirm the cessation of cricket during the conflict and the placing of Lord's at the disposal of the War Office. In 1922, he protested the burden that the entertainment tax was having on county cricket. He retired as secretary in 1926 and was succeeded by William Findlay. Upon his retirement, he was elected a trustee of the MCC, which still afforded him great influence over the running of the club. In December 1926, a presentation was made to Lacey following a meeting of the county secretaries, in which they gifted him a motor vehicle and an illuminated book containing appreciations from all the first-class and minor counties clubs for his time as secretary. He enjoyed a good working relationship with Lord Harris, regarded as the dominant presence on the MCC committee. In addition to his administrative roles within the MCC, Lacey was also an administrator in county cricket. He was elected president of Hampshire County Cricket Club for a two-year term in 1928. As president, in early 1929 he wanted the club to support calls for reforms to the leg before wicket rules to discourage pad play, wishing for "the laws of cricket