Graham Robert Cowdrey (27 June 1964 – 10 November 2020) was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er.

Biography

Cowdrey was the third son of cricketer and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge and his first wife Penny Chiesman. He was born in Farnborough in 1964 and educated at Wellesley House and

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

. After one year as a student at

Hatfield College, Durham Hatfield College is one of the constituent colleges of Durham University in England. It occupies a city centre site above the River Wear on the World Heritage Site peninsula, lying adjacent to North Bailey and only a short distance from Durh ...

, Cowdrey chose to embark on a professional career. He played for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

as an attacking batsman in first-class and

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the num ...

from 1984 to 1998. In his 450 appearances for Kent, he scored over 14000 runs, with his best seasons in 1995 when he helped Kent reach the

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

final and win the Sunday League with a List A average of 53.90. He had two sons, Michael and Alexander, and a daughter, Grace. His nickname of "Van" came from

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, his favourite musician. Cowdrey worked as a Cricket Liaison Officer for the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

Death

Cowdrey died on 10 November 2020, aged 56, after a short illness.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowdrey, Graham 1964 births 2020 deaths Deaths from sepsis English cricketers Kent cricketers Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham People educated at Tonbridge School People from Farnborough, London Cricketers from the London Borough of Bromley Sons of life peers 20th-century English sportsmen