Editing Colin Cowdrey (section)

===1972 to 1976===
Cowdrey continued to play for Kent under Mike Denness (who succeeded Ray Illingworth as England captain in 1973) and the county continued its success. It came 2nd in the County Championship in 1972, 4th in 1973, but slipped to 10th in 1974, but won the [[John Player League]] in 1972 and 1973, the [[Benson and Hedges Cup]] in 1973 (Cowdrey hitting a cheeky 25 not out) and the Gillette Cup again in 1974, beating Lancashire by 4 wickets in the final. With his Test career seemingly over he was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire|CBE]] by the Prime Minister [[Ted Heath]] in 1972. Cowdrey's great milestone was his 100th first-class century, 100 not out against Surrey at [[Maidstone]] on 4 July 1974, after which he had a celebratory luncheon at Lords with ex-prime minister Sir [[Alec Douglas-Home]] as the guest speaker. {{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

After the disastrous First Test in Brisbane the tour selectors sent back to London for the 41-year-old Cowdrey as a replacement batsmen. Cowdrey was highly regarded by the MCC team and in particular by [[Mike Denness]], who had succeeded him as captain of [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]]. In his 20-year Test career he had faced the Australian fast bowlers [[Keith Miller]], [[Ray Lindwall]], [[Alan Keith Davidson|Alan Davidson]], [[Ian Meckiff]], [[Gordon Rorke]] and even the young [[Dennis Lillee]]. Although the Australian press was aghast at such a recall – Cowdrey had not played a Test in four years – the tourists were keen to have a man with the technique and strength of purpose to play the fastest of bowlers.<ref>Tyson, pp. 57–60</ref> He arrived in Perth with the wives of the MCC team after a 19-hour delay in Bombay, too late to play a practice match, and was called up for the Second Test two days after he arrived and with three hours in the nets. This was his sixth tour of Australia, matching the record of the [[Lancashire County Cricket Club|Lancashire]] spinner [[Johnny Briggs (cricketer)|Johnny Briggs]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154334.html |title=Wisden: MCC in Australia and New Zealand, 1974–75 |work=ESPN cricinfo |access-date=25 November 2014 |archive-date=23 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223014919/http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154334.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Cowdrey showed he had lost none of his timing and that his bat was as straight as ever until he was bowled behind his legs by Thomson (2/45) for 22. In the second innings he volunteered to open with [[David Lloyd (cricketer)|David Lloyd]] instead of the badly bruised [[Brian Luckhurst]]. Cowdrey was dropped by [[Ian Redpath]] off Lillee, hit on the arm, survived a confident appeal by [[Rod Marsh]] before he was finally caught [[leg before wicket|lbw]] by Thomson for 41, his highest score of the series. After the Second Test Cowdrey made 78 and took 2/27 against South Australia. Before the Third Test at Melbourne [[Frank Tyson]] recalled "Colin Cowdrey and [[John Edrich]] were unable to practice on [[Christmas Eve]] – mainly because of the drizzling rain but also because Cowdrey wanted to spend his birthday in comparative peace. Since both batsmen wanted to feel the ball on bat before the Test, I volunteered the use of the [[Hawthorn, Victoria|Hawthorn]] Indoor Cricket Centre, in which I was a partner, for a two-hour work-out on [[Christmas]] morning. It was quite a contrast to open the children's presents in the early hours and to open the bowling at the two English batsmen before lunch. My fifteen old son, Philip, thought the latter experience to be quite the best of his Christmas presents".<ref>Tyson, p. 85</ref> He played his 114th and last Test at Melbourne, and opened the innings again as Lloyd was injured, but only made 7. Even so, England made 529 and won by an innings, with Cowdrey dismissing [[Rick McCosker]] for his 120th catch. He was given a warm farewell by his fans in "an impromptu little gathering on the outfield in front of the banner reading '[[Melbourne Cricket Ground|M.C.G.]] FANS THANK COLIN – 6 TOURS'. The central figure, wearing a large straw sun-hat, was 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".<ref name="p183, Swanton">Swanton, p. 183</ref>

The South African tour of 1975 was cancelled and instead there was [[Cricket World Cup|Prudential World Cup]] with the Australians staying on for a Test series afterwards. Their first first-class match after losing the Cup Final was against Kent and Cowdrey has already announced his retirement at the end of the season. [[Ian Chappell]] won the toss and declared on 415/8, Kent were out for 202 and Chappell was able to declare his second innings at 140/3 on the last day to set the hosts 354 to win. He was so confident of a win that he ordered a coach for 4 pm to take the team to [[Southampton]] for dinner before their next match against Hampshire, but Cowdrey struck 151 not out, Kent won by 4 wickets and the Australians didn't reach Southampton until midnight. It was first victory by Kent over Australia since 1899.<ref>Cowdrey, pp. 224–25</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/35/35275.html |title=match |work=CricketArchive |access-date=25 November 2014 |archive-date=10 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510105904/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/35/35275.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Cowdrey was asked to captain the MCC against the Australians, but was dismissed for a pair by Lillee, though this did not stop speculation that he would replace Mike Denness as England captain. His 107th and last first-class century was 119 not out against [[Gloucestershire County Cricket Club|Gloucestershire]], but he returned next year for one more game against [[Surrey County Cricket Club|Surrey]] when Kent were short of players, making 25 and 15 and taking two catches. [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]], incidentally, went on to win the John Player League in 1976 and the County Championship in 1977–78.