Colin Cowdrey is dead

By P. Subramanyam

LONDON, DEC. 5. Former Kent and England cricket captain, Lord Cowdrey of Tonbridge, 67, died peacefully in his sleep early this morning at his home, after a long battle with illness.

A dazzling stroke player and a superb slip fielder, Colin Cowdrey was one of England's greatest post-war players. Apart from his talents on the cricket field, he was a perfect gentleman and a great ambassador of the game.

He took over England captaincy in 1959 and led the team, off and on, for the next 10 years.

Cowdrey, one of the few men to have played over 100 Tests for England-114 to be precise-was the fourth highest run- getter for the country with 7,264 runs, at an average of 44.06. In all, he hit 22 centuries.

In 1963, Cowdrey famously went out to bat against the West Indies' demon pacemen with his broken arm in plaster to save England from a certain defeat.

Tributes

Nasser Hussain (England captain, now with the team in Pakistan): ``Lord Cowdrey was one of the most gifted batsmen of his generation. He was also one of the nicest people you could meet in the game and a good friend to the England team.''

Richie Benaud (former Australian captain): ``He had a genuine and abiding love of the great game of cricket.''

Chris Cowdrey (Cowdrey's son and former England captain, who is now in Pakistan covering the England tour for radio): ``Obviously, the whole family is deeply saddened by the news. It came as a great shock as he was recovering well from a recent stroke.''

Agencies add:

Jeff Thomson: the Australian firebrand bowler who tried to inflict as much pain as possible on Colin Cowdrey 25 years ago, said Cowdrey had shown more guts than his younger team-mates when he was called out of retirement at the age of 42 to face up to Dennis Lillee and him at the height of their fast bowling powers in the 1974-75 series in Australia.

Thomson said: ``When he came out here in 1974-75 he was the only one that tried to get in behind the ball and he was 42 years old then. He was a great player and a very good bloke. We went back to England the next year and I wasn't playing this game but he got 150 against us playing for Kent. And that was against blokes like Lillee, (Max) Walker and (Alan) Hurst. I was watching from the stands and I'm glad I was.''

Peter Burge: Cowdrey played 43 of his 114 Tests against Australia, more than any other player. Eighteen of those were against batsman Peter Burge, who made his debut in the same series as Cowdrey in Australia in 1954-55 and the pair remained firm friends. Burge said: ``He was a great cricketer and I don't say that lightly. He was a very, very good slips fieldsman and he was a real fixture of the England team. He had enormous talent but he also had a lot of courage and he showed that when they brought him back out here.

Rodney Marsh: Wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh, whose hands copped a battering behind the stumps to Lillee and Thomson in the 1974-75 series, said Cowdrey deserved respect for answering the call to return to Test cricket after a four- year absence. ``Although he didn't get many runs against us, he stood up to Lillee and Thomson as well as any of the Englishmen, I respected him highly. He was a great lover of the game and he'll be sadly missed.

Against Australia, Cowdrey scored 2,433 runs at 34.27 with five centuries and 11 half-centuries.

Fact file: 1932, December 24-Born in Putumala (Ooty, India) and was given the initials MCC by his father.

1964-Youngest player to represent his school to play at Lord's at the age of 13.

1950-Made first appearance for Kent County Cricket Club and stayed with them for the next 26 years.

1951-Given Blue at Oxford University.

1954-Made captain of Kent County Cricket Club.

1957-411-run partnership with Peter May saves Test against the West Indies.

1959-Captains England for the first time.

1962-Makes highest score in first-class cricket, 307 for MCC against South Australia.

1963-Bats with a broken wrist to avoid defeat against the West Indies.

1965-Scores 2,039 runs for Kent CC at an average of 63.42.

1967-Wins Gillette Cup with Kent CC.

1968-Captains England to its last series victory in West Indies.

1970-Leads Kent CC to its first County championship title since 1913.

1971-Plays last home Test against Pakistan and then steps down as captain of England.

1972-Awarded the CBE.

1975-Plays his final Test for England at the age of 42 after being called onto tour of Australia as an emergency to face the might of Dennis Lillie and Jeff Thompson. Ends Test career with 7,624 runs at an average of 44.06.

1976-Retires from first-class cricket with 42,719 runs, which includes 107 centuries, at an average of 42.89.

1986-Made president of the MCC in its 200th (bicentenary) year of inception.

1992-Awarded knighthood for services to cricket.

1997-Appointed to the House of Lords as Lord Colin Cowdrey of Tonbridge.

2000-Suffers a stroke in July and dies in his sleep just over four months later, aged 67.

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