Mike Denness holding another trophy after skippering the Kent side to more glory !
Today sadly saw the passing of Mike Denness. A superb cricketer and gentleman. I'm so very glad that I was able to thank him personally for all the joy he brought me when watching him play and captaining Kent to so many titles and trophies during that golden age of the 70's.
He kindly signed a copy of his book, I Declare, for me a couple of years ago. I must read that again.
Kent were fortunate to have such a talented group of players, however, it needed someone special like him to lead them all to success. One needs to remember that the success he brought to Kent was achieved against a background of frequent disruption due to the loss of key players such as Luckhurst, Knott, Underwood and Woolmer to the Test and One Day England teams aside from himself of course. In addition, he'd lose Asif, Julien and Shepherd too to touring sides.
He wasn't greatly treated by Kent when they removed the captaincy from him and so I was pleased to see him return to the club in later life as Chairman and then President.
I will always have those wonderful memories of him to look back on with great affection.
Our loss is Heaven's gain with Luckhurst and Denness reunited to open the batting !
Mike Denness R.I.P.
Bravo from a fellow devotee of Kent who shares your sentiments, and is now exiled in East Sussex.
ReplyDeleteHis successor, Bob "The Cat" Bevan was recommended by Mike as his successor, and I am sure will release a worthy tribute not to be missed.
Well said, indeed. Denness and Luckhurst (and the great team of that period) made me proud to be a Man of Kent
ReplyDeleteI went on a few cricket tours with Mike in the 1990's; he was a lovely man. We batted together in Sri Lanka, and he talked me through a long innings even though I just wanted to give up due to the heat and humidity. His partner Doreen was lovely too, and my thoughts are with her today. RIP Mike.
ReplyDeletePedro45