Colin Cowdrey
Cowdrey was asked to play for Kent Young Amateurs in 1948 and made 157 against Sussex Young Amateurs, 87 against Middlesex Young Amateurs and 79 against Surrey Young Amateurs. He was asked to join the Kent Second XI in 1949 and played Norfolk, Wiltshire and Devon. In 1949–1950 Cowdrey was made the school cricket captain and in 1950 made 126 not out for Public Schools against the Combined Services at Lords. This was followed by being called up for Kent County Cricket Club while still only 17 and he made 15 and 26 on his first-class debut against Derbyshire.
Colin Cowdrey
At the start of his career the England batting was fragile and Cowdrey never forgot that his wicket was too important to throw away, sometimes treating bowlers too cautiously for a man of his great talents, John Arlott commenting "Cowdrey could sink into pits of uncertainty when the fire ceased to burn, allowing himself to be dominated by bowlers inferior to him in skill". Cowdrey himself thought that "the proudest thing in my career was that I kept surviving", playing Lindwall and Miller at 21 and Lillee and Thomson at 41, still able to move immaculately into line even though he hadn't played for months. His quick reflexes also made him an outstanding slip, whose 120 catches was a Test record for a fielder. In his youth, Cowdrey was a useful leg-spinner at club level, but only took 63 first-class wickets at a cost of 51.21 apiece. He claimed if Alan Knott hadn't misread a googly he would have picked up a Test wicket, though his son Chris wrote "I can't see Knotty losing sleep over that one". In Cowdrey's last Test at Melbourne the fans famously hung out a banner 'M.C.G. FANS THANK COLIN – 6 TOURS', with Cowdrey "wearing a large straw sun-hat ... signing endless autographs, posing for photographs and exchanging friendly talk with young and old in the way that has made him as popular a cricketer as has ever visited Australia".