ONE of Britain's top former civil servants spoke fondly of his time at Winchester College as the public school conferred its highest honour on him.

Lord Jay of Ewelme, who was Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign Office until July, particularly recalled playing cricket there.

Speaking partly in Latin, Lord Jay was received Ad Portas - at the gates - in a ceremony dating back at least to 1615.

In accordance with the ritual, established in its current form in 1881, the former head of Britain's diplomatic service was saluted in a speech by the Prefect of Hall, Daniel Hitchens, who recalled Michael Jay's five years at the college, starting in 1959.

Headmaster of the day, Sir Desmond Lee, had observed: "Jay is a trifle over-serious-minded, but thoroughly sound, reliable and intelligent. Last year's A' grade in history would certainly have been higher, had he not had such a tiring commitment to playing cricket."

After a degree in PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford, and voluntary teaching in Africa, Michael Jay joined the Home Civil Service. In 1981, he was appointed to the diplomatic service and by 1996 he had risen to become ambassador in Paris.

He became Permanent Under Secretary in 2001.

"Such a swift rise to eminence in an intensely intellectual and political milieu can be attributed to your trenchant insights into international affairs," the prefect told him.

"Through your own skill in the arts of diplomacy you have influenced the drafting and delivery of policy that reflects the challenge of interdependence in a global community and the deeper potential for collective government action."

Lord Jay replied that it was a huge honour to be received Ad Portas, not just for himself but for the four generations of his family that had been proud to call themselves Wykehamists.

"I loved my five years at Win Coll and I look back on them with pleasure and nostalgia," he said.

He had remained a cricketer after school, playing in Zambia and Paris, Washington and the Himalayas: "All such games, in their different ways, help international understanding."

There have now been 50 Ad Portas receptions since 1873, including British monarchs and prime ministers.

Headmaster, Dr Ralph Townsend, said: "Ad Portas is a wonderfully simple but dignified way of the whole school gathering together to honour a person distinguished in public life."