Arthur Phebey

Arthur Henry Phebey (1 October 1924 – 28 June 1998) was an English cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1946 and 1961. He played in 327 first-class cricket matches during his career as a right-handed opening batsman.

Cricket career Phebey was born at Catford in London in 1924.

Described as an "elegant" opening batsman, Phebey was considered "correct and sound" and was a "mainstay" of the team throughout his time at Kent. In 1954 he and Arthur Fagg scored two century opening partnerships in the same match against Gloucestershire, only the second time a pair of Kent batsman had done so in the County Championship. In 1960 he played in the last first-class match in Britain to be concluded within a day's play. After being the first batsman out on the pitch at Tunbridge Wells, Phebey predicted that "if we get 200 on that, we'll win by an innings". Kent made 187 runs and bowled Worcestershire out twice after 3:40 to win by an innings.

In total Phebey played in 327 first-class matches, 320 of them for Kent. He scored 14,653 runs, including 14 centuries with a highest score of 157, and passed 1,000 runs each season between 1952 and 1960, leading the county in runs scored in 1956. and he took a total of 205 catches.

Football As well as cricket, Phebey was a footballer. He played wartime cricket and football matches for Dulwich Hamlet F.C., at the time an amateur club, and when he signed professionally with Kent was forced to find another team. He played for Hendon F.C. during the 1950s.

Later life Phebey retired at the end of the 1961 season, after being either left out or asked to bat lower in the order. This was because new opening batsmen Peter Richardson and Roger Prideaux were establishing themselves. Phebey was active in the business community, and was a member of the General Committee at Kent. He died at Kingswood in Surrey in 1998. He was aged 73.