Famous Cricketers No 72 - Lord Cowdrey of Tonbridge, C.B.E.

Introduction I was nine in the winter of 1954/55. It is an age when interests and enthusiasms that last a lifetime are born. Coming from Kent and in particular a town with an historic association with county cricket, my attention was already being drawn in a particular direction. Arising in the early morning to a cold living room, I was listening with ever increasing interest to the static-ridden, fading commentaries from Australia, following the progress of Kent’s representatives on Hutton’s Ashes-winning tour. Thus I became aware of the emergence of a new Kent star, not the least after his memorable maiden test hundred. From that moment on Colin Cowdey became my first and only great sporting hero. No doubt many other Kent cricket supporters of my generation can tell a similar tale. Through all the vicissitudes of his long career, we followed every high and low. The England side, for us at least, was never the same without him in it and we rejoiced when his talents were given full vein. Many of us can probably remember the sad day when we last saw him bat – for me it was in no less an historic setting than Hambledon in a commemorative match in 1977. Then one felt a huge part of one’s cricketing enjoyment pass, emphasised with the sad finality of his death in late 2000. In the pattern of previous titles in this series, this publication places on record Colin Cowdrey’s career, innings by innings, together with a statistical summary. But like that other Kent hero, Frank Woolley, the mere figures do nothing to reflect the enjoyment of watching the Cowdrey bat at its imperious full flow. It is not the intention of this publication to analyse in any depth the complexities of man whose performances could bring frustration and pleasure in almost equal measure. I would commend some of the sources listed hereafter for that more personal perspective. To my now ever eternal regret I never met my great hero. Two opportunities actually arose in the late summer of 2000, but his final illness prevented this. In late November 2000 I had occasion to send him a copy of a book I was involved with and in which his performances were prominently featured. I received a charmingly written letter and personal note expressing the thrill of remembering great days playing at the Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend, signing it “Yours ever, Colin”. The morning after I opened that letter, I awoke with the news he had passed away. Howard Milton October 2001 3