Neeharikareddyiasacademy: created a details more to come - done

2026-08-16T11:32:39Z

created a details more to come - done

New page

{{short description|English cricketer and tea plantation owner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name =
| image =
| country = England
| full_name = Ernest Arthur Cowdrey
| birth_date = 14 January 1902
| birth_place = [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]],<br>[[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1954|10|5|1902|1|14|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Sutton, London|Sutton]], [[Surrey]], England
| nickname =
| family = [[Colin Cowdrey]] (son)<br>[[Chris Cowdrey]] (grandson)<br>[[Graham Cowdrey]] (grandson)<br>[[Fabian Cowdrey]] (great-grandson)
| batting = Unknown
| bowling = Unknown
| role =
| club1 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]]
| year1 = 1926/27
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 1
| runs1 = 36
| bat avg1 = 36.00
| 100s/50s1 = –/–
| top score1 = 27[[not out|*]]
| deliveries1 = 66
| wickets1 = 0
| bowl avg1 = –
| fivefor1 = –
| tenfor1 = –
| best bowling1 = –
| catches/stumpings1 = –/–
| date = 7 November
| year = 2021
| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/27742.html ESPNcricinfo
}}

'''Ernest Arthur Cowdrey''' (14 January 1902 – 5 October 1954) was an English first-class [[cricket]]er and tea plantation owner in [[British India]]. He was the father of the England Test cricketer [[Colin Cowdrey]].

==Life and cricket==
The son of Ernest Charles Cowdrey, he was born in [[British India]] at [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] in January 1902. He was educated at [[Whitgift School]], where he played cricket and showed promise as a cricketer, moving his way up through the age groups at Beddington Cricket Club in [[Surrey]].<ref name="BOOK">{{cite book|title=Gentleman & Player|first=Murtagh|last=Andrew|page=31|year=2017|publisher=Pitch Publishing|isbn=9781785313455|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PcpHEAAAQBAJ|language=en}}</ref> Cowdrey harboured dreams of playing the game professionally, but did not progress his cricket to that level.

After finishing his education, Cowdrey found employment at a bank in the [[City of London]], before progressing to stockbroking where he bought and sold tea stocks. He met his future wife, Kathleen Mary Taylor, at Beddington Cricket Club. After marrying, the couple moved to India, with Cowdrey setting up a tea plantation high in the [[Nilgiri Mountains]], 100 miles from [[Bangalore]].<ref name="BOOK"/>

He played [[first-class cricket]] in India for the [[Europeans cricket team]], making a single appearance against the [[Indians cricket team|Indians]] at [[M. A. Chidambaram Stadium|Madras]] in January 1927 in the [[Madras Presidency Matches|Madras Presidency Match]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13225/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Ernest Cowdrey|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=7 November 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Batting twice in the match, he was dismissed for nine runs in the Europeans' first innings by [[M. Venkataramanjulu]], while in their second innings he was [[not out|unbeaten]] on 27. In the Indians' first innings, he bowled 11 [[over (cricket)|overs]] without taking a wicket.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/12/12172.html|title=Europeans v Indians, Madras Presidency Match 1926/27|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=7 November 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Cowdrey would often drive ten hours to Madras to play [[club cricket]], a perilous undertaking on the narrow and unpaved roads in the mountains.

The [[Great Depression]] hit the tea industry hard, with prices dropping by over 50%. Nevertheless, Cowdrey was able to maintain the plantation, though the [[Second World War]] again hit the plantation, with the young English managers joining the war effort.<ref name="BOOK"/>

In later life he suffered from a heart problems. He died in England in October 1954 at [[Sutton, London|Sutton]].<ref name="BOOK"/>

==Family==
Cowdrey was the founding member a cricketing dynasty. His son [[Colin Cowdrey|Colin]] was born on the tea plantation in December 1932 and would go on to captain [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]] and [[England national cricket team|England]] in [[Test cricket]]. Many stories circulate about Cowdrey's early relationship with his son, including his determination for Colin to become a professional cricketer. He also wrote to a friend in England asking him to place Colin's name down for membership of the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] shortly after he was born. (Colin's first name was actually Michael, meaning his initials were MCC).<ref name="BOOK"/>

Colin would go on to have two sons who would play cricket, [[Chris Cowdrey|Chris]] and [[Graham Cowdrey|Graham]]; Chris would also play for and captain England in Test cricket as well as Kent. Ernest Cowdrey's great-grandson [[Fabian Cowdrey]] also played for Kent.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cricinfo|id=27742}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowdrey, Ernest}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Surrey]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:People educated at Whitgift School]]
[[Category:English bankers]]
[[Category:English stockbrokers]]
[[Category:British people in British India]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in the tea industry]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:Cowdrey family|Ernest]]

Ernest Cowdrey - Revision history

Neeharikareddyiasacademy: created a details more to come - done