Cowdrey's back
FABIAN Cowdrey must be growing tired of references to his name – he is the son of former England opener Chris, nephew of Kent player Graham, grandson of former international Lord Colin – but now he is building his own reputation in the game.
Nineteen-year-old Cowdrey was offered a contract by Kent in November, making history as the only three generations of a family to do so, and returned from county duties at the weekend to make his season debut for Sevenoaks Vine.
He opened the batting and helped his hometown to their first winning points of the season, knocking an unbeaten 99 and pushing Sevenoaks to more than double the previous week's batting effort.
"I really enjoyed playing for the Vine again – it's a priority if I'm not playing first-class cricket," said Cowdrey.
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"I took no risks and made sure I batted through the 55 overs. I actually got the century – an inside edge on to the pads that we ran for – but the umpire called it leg-byes. It's annoying, but most important is that we won."
A former pupil of Tonbridge School like father and grandfather, Fabian began setting the record books straight early.
Lord Colin made his Tonbridge debut in 1946 during his first year and became the youngest cricketer to play at Lord's when he inspired the school to a two-wicket win over Clifton.
His run-scoring record would one day be surpassed by his own son, Chris, but both now find themselves behind the latest cricketer from a production line which began with Fabian's great-grandfather Ernest in India more than 80 years ago.
Fabian scored a record 1,252 at an average of 83.47 at Tonbridge last season, scoring five centuries and seven 50s. In doing so he brought up the 3,000th run of his schoolboy career, surpassing his grandfather's career total of 2,894.
Earning early international honours as an England U15 representative, the West Malling youngster's journey does seem to have a tinge of the inevitable about it. The pressure placed on him so far in his short career has been a unique one, but Cowdrey didn't choose his name, he only chose to play cricket.
He said: "People think it can be a burden, but I see the positives. My dad is my number one supporter and always has been. I get advice from him – not on the technical side, more mental – but he's never forced me to play."
And Cowdrey is fully aware that places for batsmen in Kent's first team are a scarce commodity – Jimmy Adams signed five batsmen over the summer.
"There are a lot of top batsmen at the club. There's still a lot I can improve. You just have to work at it and take the big moment when it arrives."
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