M Melford: Obituary - Don Kenyon, Captain Led By Example (14 Nov 1996)

14 November 1996

Obituary: Captain led by example

By Michael Melford

DON KENYON, who has died suddenly aged 72, played eight Test matches for England in the 1950s and captained Worcestershire to their first two County Championships in the 1960s.

Like many professional opening batsmen of his day, he kept his form well during a long career. In 19 seasons he passed 1,000 runs, six times exceeding 2,000, and was still only slightly less prolific when he found himself captaining a side good enough to win the County Championship.

By then the Worcestershire batting was less dependent on him. Tom Graveney had arrived from Gloucestershire, Basil D`Oliveira qualified in 1965 and there were four bowlers - Standen, Coldwell, Flavell and Gifford - who took wickets at an average of 17 or under.

In Kenyon they had a captain with a shrewd cricket brain. He was perhaps not the most agile of fielders but was still a batsman of powerful strokes, notably on the off side. When runs were needed quickly, he seldom failed to play a prominent part.

He played in his first three Tests on the 1951-52 England tour of India. In 1953 he made 122 for Worcestershire against Lindsay Hassett`s Australians in their opening match of the tour and played in the first two Tests. Two years later he made 87 at Trent Bridge in Peter May`s first Test as captain, which England won by an innings, but failed to reach double figures in the next two and had his last chance.

Staffordshire-born, Kenyon played for Stourbridge in the Birmingham League at 14, then had trials for Worcestershire, the county for which he made the bulk of his 74 first-class centuries.

The outbreak of war delayed the start of his first-class career until 1946, when he began his national service in the Royal Air Force. He made a century against Worcestershire for the Combined Services and while stationed around Cambridge had the benefit of batting on the excellent pitches of Fenner`s and the college grounds.

After his Test career ended he remained a formidable batsman for Worcestershire and in an era when big scores against Yorkshire were still considered a feat of special significance, he made 259, the highest against the White Rose county since Tom Hayward`s 273 in 1899.

After his nine seasons of captaincy he served as an England selector, from 1965 to 1972, and was Worcestershire`s president when the County Championship was won twice more during the Ian Botham era in the late 1980s.

He retained strong links with the county and was taken ill at a New Road ground function this week.

Michael Vockins, the Worcestershire secretary, said: "We are all shocked, numbed and saddened - most of all for his wife Jean and his family.

"The club has lost a man who has been regarded as one of Worcestershire`s all-time greats."

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)