The Chris Tavare Collection

Chris Tavare should rightly be considered as one of Kent’s most reliable post-war batters.

He made his debut for Kent in 1974 and went on to score over 20,000 runs in all cricket for the county, with 37 centuries.  He was also a fine slip fielder who, in 1978, claimed a county record for an outfielder with 48 catches in just 24 matches.

Though many will remember Tavare playing the anchor role, particularly during the 31 Test Matches he played for England, he could be an aggressive batter when required – as his joint county record of 8 one day centuries show.  He also represented England in 29 One Day Internationals in which he scored 4 half-centuries.

In both 1983 and ’84, he captained the XI to one day finals at Lord’s and was widely considered a good thinker about the game.  He left Kent at the end of the 1988 season and moved to Somerset where he captained his adopted county until he retired from the game in 1993.

In 2023, Chris very kindly donated a large number of items from his personal collection to the Heritage Trust.  The haul included a number of medals won whilst at Kent and many souvenirs from his England career.  The Trust thank Chris for this very generous donation and assure him that we will prove a very suitable custodian.