The ICC World Cup is going on all around us (or at least, in those parts of the country not being flooded out by the glorious June weather), but there are no Kent players involved, unless you count Matt Henry with New Zealand, who has, after all, got his Kent cap. Joe Denly was unlucky to miss out for England, but I expect in the overall course of things, playing for his county is better than acting as drinks waiter for six weeks or so, a fate that has befallen James Vince.

Joe Denly – no longer England’s drinks waiter

It made me wonder about Kent’s involvement in previous World Cups, this being now the twelfth time this tournament has taken place, the twelfth time England have tried to win the trophy, and – I have a ghastly feeling – the twelfth time they will fall just short. Would England have done better if more Kent players had been involved?

The first World Cup, in 1975, then called the Prudential World Cup, featured four of the Kent county side in the England squad – Mike Denness, Alan Knott, Derek Underwood and Bob Woolmer – as well as Asif Iqbal and Bernard Julien, both contracted overseas players for the county, playing for Pakistan and West Indies respectively. In those glorious days of the 1970s Kent swept all before them, although not even Kent could make up for the loss of six key players during a large part of the summer, and in 1975 we were trophy-less. England, led by Mike Denness, still the only Kent player to have captained England in the World Cup, got to the semi-finals, where the reward for their efforts was the vast sum of £1,000. Hardly worth bothering to turn up. None of the Kent players did very much for England: in fact Bob Woolmer did nothing at all, acting as drinks waiter throughout, thus establishing a tradition for Kent players in white ball cricket for England. They are good to have in the squad, mix the drinks uncomplainingly and if offered the chance to play often do rather well. Bernard Julien, of Kent and West Indies, on the other hand, returned to Kent with a winners’ medal in his cricket bag.

In 1979, there were no Kent players picked for England’s World Cup squad, and once again England reached the semi-finals. In 1983, the only Kent player to make the England World Cup squad between 1975 and 1999 played in every England game, and still we only got as far as the semi-finals. No prizes for guessing the name of that player, a man whose normal game was perhaps not entirely suited to rapid scoring, who reportedly hit only two sixes in his entire career but who could get runs in a hurry when they were needed – Chris Tavaré.

Chris Tavaré in aggressive mood

For the next three World Cups, in 1987, 1991/2 and 1996, the England selectors overlooked Kent players entirely, and England reached the final twice before performing rather more ignominiously in 1996. It was not until 1999 that another Kent player was chosen for the World Cup, and this time it was the man denigrated as a pie-chucker, but who for some years held the record for the best bowling analysis by an England player in an ODI – Mark Ealham. But even with him in the side, we did no better than in the previous World Cup, failing even to reach the semi-final stage.

So the England selectors decided for the next two World Cups, in 2003 and 2007, to go back to their ‘no Kent players’ policy, and a fat lot of good it did them. We still struggled, in 2003 not even doing as well as Kenya. Meanwhile Australia won almost every time. They had at least one Kent player in their squad – Steve Waugh, although without checking the facts (and why would I do that?) I am pretty sure that he did not play for Kent until after his final appearance in a World Cup.

Finally, in 2011 we come to the only Kent player to have been included in two England World Cup squads, and the only Kent man since Mike Denness to have captained England in an ODI – James Tredwell. Tredders, sadly now retired but in his heyday one of the most popular and hard working players in county cricket, played two matches in the 2011 World Cup, against West Indies and Sri Lanka, and also played one match in the 2015 competition, against Afghanistan. Against the West Indies in 2011, he took four wickets for 48 in his ten overs, about the only individual performance by a Kent man worth noting over the 44 years of World Cup cricket. Despite Tredwell’s efforts, England yet again missed out on a semi-final place. And they did it again in 2015.

Tredders – the only Kent player to play in two World Cups

Frankly, I consider Kent’s county performance to be infinitely more important than England’s efforts in the World Cup, and although I hope England wins the current shenanigans, I am pleased we have Joe Denly in Canterbury rather than carrying drinks or doing a bit of net bowling at some other ground. Still, I hope that in future Kent will provide players of sufficient quality to ensure­ that they are always challenging for a place in the England squad, and that our rather feeble total of just seven men picked for the World Cup will improve in years to come.

The women’s World Cup, of course, is a completely different matter. Without Kent’s contribution to that competition over the years we would not be World Champions now.