Cowdrey, Colin

▪ 2001

Lord Cowdrey of Tonbridge 

      British cricket player and administrator (b. Dec. 24, 1932, Putumala, India—d. Dec. 5, 2000, Angmering, West Sussex, Eng.), was one of England's finest batsmen and the first player to represent his country in more than 100 Test matches. Cowdrey was still a schoolboy at Tonbridge and then at Brasenose College, Oxford, when he began playing for Kent, which he captained from 1957 to 1971. He scored 42,719 first-class runs (average 42.89), including 107 centuries; his highest score was 307 against South Australia in 1962. He made his Test debut against Australia in 1954 and played in 114 Test matches (27 as captain), becoming England's fourth-highest run-scorer in Test history with 7,624 runs (average 44.06), including 22 centuries and 120 catches, an English record. In 1957 against the West Indies he scored a record fourth-wicket partnership of 411 runs with Peter May. In 1963 against the West Indies he famously returned to the crease to finish the match, despite having suffered a broken arm. Cowdrey was unexpectedly called up in 1975 at age 42 to play Australia in his final Test appearance; he retired from Kent the next year. He later served as president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (1986–87) and chairman of the International Cricket Conference (1986–87; 1989–93). Two of his sons also played for Kent, and one, Chris, played for England. Cowdrey was made CBE in 1972, awarded a knighthood in 1992, and granted a life peerage in 1997.

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