The Colin Cowdrey Collection

The name of Colin Cowdrey is certain to feature in any “All Time Best Kent XI” – probably as captain.  He first represented the county in 1950 and, by the time he retired in 1976, he had scored 23,779 runs in first class cricket with 58 centuries, all at an average of over 40.

He captained the XI from 1957 to 1971 and, in that time, helped develop a side that was to dominate English county cricket through most of the 1970s with 11 trophies between 1967 and 1978.

Cowdrey was the first man to appear in 100 Test Matches and celebrated the occasion with a century against Australia at Edgbaston, one of 22 he made for England.  He was also the first fielder to claim 100 catches, largely at slip where he was considered one of the safest pairs of hands in the game.  In 1974/5, Cowdrey was called up as a late replacement to combat the threat of Australian pace legends Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, and finished his career with 114 Caps, having captained his country on 27 occasions.

A stand at Canterbury was named in his honour in 1986, the year in which he served as President of the MCC.  In 1992, Cowdrey was knighted and later made Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge – one of three cricketers to have attained that rank (Learie Constantine and Ian Botham being the others).  For some years, he was Chairman of the ICC and did much to promote the Spirit of Cricket.

The Kent Cricket collection at Canterbury is honoured to provide a home for items from Colin’s career, many of which are on permanent loan from the Cowdrey family to whom we offer our grateful thanks.