Colin Cowdrey
Cowdrey won a Heath Harrison Exhibition award and a place at Brasenose College at Oxford University to study geography in the autumn of 1951. He played for the Oxford University Cricket Club in 1952 and 1953 at the start of the season and the rest of the summer for Kent. He made 50 and 57 for the Gentlemen vs the 1953 Australians at Lords. In 1954 he captained Oxford University and was a surprise choice for the MCC tour of Australia, replacing Willie Watson. Len Hutton later told him that his selection was a gamble, but it was thought that his technique would be good on the hard Australian wickets. At 21, Cowdrey was the youngest man in the side and the schoolboy photographs used in the brochures made him appear younger. He had yet to make a century in the County Championship, go on tour or play a Test, though he was made twelfth man for the Fourth Test against Pakistan and fielded for 20 minutes, but was so nervous he could barely watch.
Chris Cowdrey
After a good season for Kent in County cricket in 1984, Cowdrey was selected for England's 1984–85 tour of India, led by his friend David Gower, ostensibly taking Ian Botham's place after Botham had opted out of the tour. In the First Test in Bombay he was fielding at short leg when Gower asked him to bowl. Although he forgot to take off his shin pads he bowled Kapil Dev with his fourth ball, the 19th England bowler to take a wicket in his first over. His father was listening to Test Match Special in his car and was so surprised that he drove the wrong way down a one-way street. Following the tour, where he had scored 96 runs and taken four wickets Cowdrey was not selected by England until 1988, and the infamous "summer of four captains". In that year Cowdrey, who had taken Kent to the top of the Championship table, was given the job to lead the Test side in the fourth Test of a five match series against the West Indies. The West Indies by that point were 2–0 up, claiming a convincing innings and 156 run victory in the previous test. "We believe Cowdrey's style of leadership is what is now required", claimed England's chairman of selectors Peter May, who was also Cowdrey's godfather, amid charges of favouritism. England lost heavily by ten wickets, and his chance to prove his detractors wrong in the final Test never came, as he was injured after the one appearance and never chosen to captain or play for England again.