Editing Colin Cowdrey (section)

==Personal life and post-retirement==
[[Image:MCC Abbey.jpg|thumb|right|The MCC flag flying over [[Westminster Abbey]] on the day of Cowdrey's memorial service.]]
While still a player, Cowdrey was appointed [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[1972 New Year Honours]] for services to cricket.<ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |issue=45554 |date=31 December 1971 |pages=8   |supp=y}}</ref> Following his retirement in 1976, he worked closely behind the scenes at Kent and became President of the MCC in 1986. He was Chairman of the [[International Cricket Council]] from 1989 to 1993, when [[International Panel of Umpires and Referees|referees and neutral umpires]] were introduced to international cricket.<ref name="TG2994018"/> He served on the board at [[Whitbread|House of Whitbread Frelims]] and [[Barclays|Barclays Bank International]] and was a member of the Council of the [[Winston Churchill Memorial Trust]], a Member of the Council of The Cook Society (affiliate of [[Britain–Australia Society]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://britain-australia.org.uk/about/the-cook-society |title=The Cook Society, The Britain-Australia Society, BritOz |access-date=23 June 2013 |archive-date=7 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807221827/http://britain-australia.org.uk/about/the-cook-society/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Having been [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1992 New Year Honours]],<ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |issue=52767 |date=30 December 1991 |pages=2   |supp=y}}</ref> Cowdrey became a [[life peer]] as '''Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge''' in the [[1997 Birthday Honours|1997 Queen's Birthday Honours List]]; he is one of only two cricketers to be given a life peerage for their services to the sport, the other being [[Learie Constantine]] in 1969.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54842 |date=23 July 1997 |page=8443}}</ref> Cowdrey was named President of Kent County Cricket Club in 2000, the year he died.<ref name="TG2994018"/>

He was married twice. His first wife was Penny Chiesman from 1956 until their divorce in 1985. They were the parents of Kent cricketers [[Chris Cowdrey|Chris]] and [[Graham Cowdrey]]. Cowdrey's second wife was [[Anne Cowdrey, 14th Lady Herries of Terregles|Lady Anne Fitzalan-Howard]], whom he married in 1985.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} Cowdrey died of a heart attack on 4 December 2000, aged 67. He is the fourth most recent sportsman to be honoured with a memorial service in [[Westminster Abbey]], following Sir [[Frank Worrell]], [[Learie Constantine|Lord Constantine]] and [[Bobby Moore]]. The [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC) [[MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture|Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture]] was inaugurated in his memory.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}