Colin Cowdrey
Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 19324 December 2000) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University (1952–1954), Kent County Cricket Club (1950–1976) and England (1954–1975). Universally known as Colin Cowdrey, he "delighted crowds throughout the world with his style and elegance", and was the first cricketer to play 100 Test matches, celebrating the occasion with 104 against Australia in 1968. In all he played 114 Tests, making 7,624 runs at an average of 44.06, overtaking Wally Hammond as the most prolific Test batsman, and taking 120 catches as a fielder, breaking another Hammond record. Cowdrey made 22 Test centuries (an England record until 2013) and was the first batsman to make centuries against the six other Test playing countries of his era; Australia, South Africa, the West Indies, New Zealand, India and Pakistan, making hundreds against them all both home and away. He toured Australia six times in 1954–55, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1965–66, 1970–71 and 1974–75, equalling Colin Blythe's record, and in his last Test fans hung out a banner 'M.C.G. FANS THANK COLIN – 6 TOURS'.
Colin Cowdrey
Bill O'Reilly, not an easy man to impress, said it was the best Test innings he had ever seen and aged only 22 Cowdrey was the youngest Englishman to make an Ashes century since Jack Hearne on the same ground in 1912. Although Cowdrey would make 22 Test centuries they would all be measured against the yardstick of his Melbourne hundred; "his driving, concentration and command were all faultless ... a tribute to his wonderful ability". As Frank Tyson recalled, "Runs did not flow; they were grafted from a pitch which kept the batsman hopping around as delivery after delivery tickled their ribs. Colin was icily superb. For four hours his concentration never wavered...he stroked the ball through the cover and mid-wicket gaps in the field. Shooters became more frequent, but Colin dug them out. When I joined him at the wicket he was a run short of his maiden Test century: a goal he achieved with a scampered single. If he ever scored a better hundred I hope that I am there to see it". Cowdrey made 102 of England's first innings of 191 and once again this was enough for Tyson to bowl his team to victory as the tourists took a 2–1 lead in the series.