Colin Page

John Colin Theodore Page (20 May 1930 – 14 December 1990) was an English cricketer, cricket coach and manager. He played for Kent County Cricket Club as a right-arm bowler between 1950 and 1963. Page played in 198 first-class matches, taking 521 wickets. He was later the manager and coach of Kent and the director of youth coaching at the club and is considered to have been a major factor behind the success of the county team during the 1970s.

Playing career Page was born at Mereworth in Kent in 1930. He first appeared for Kent's Second XI in 1948, before being taken on by the team as a fast-medium bowler in 1949. He made his senior debut for the team in 1950, and six matches that season were followed by three in 1951, but he was not impressing as a fast bowler. He began to transition to bowling off spin in 1952 and soon broke into the team on a more regular basis, playing 18 matches and taking 61 wickets during the season. He took 12 wickets in a match against Northants in 1954, spun Kent to victory with 6/33 on a rain-affected Lord's pitch in 1955, and took 69 wickets at an average of less than 19 in 1957, including eight wickets in an innings against Warwickshire, his career best innings figures. He was particularly instrumental in promoting Brian Luckhurst to the county's First XI, recommending him when an opening became available for a batsman in 1961, and was influential in Luckhurst's recall to the team in 1962 and in his promotion to opening batsman the following season. Luckhurst went on to play almost 500 times for Kent and in 21 Test matches for England.

The team had also won the 1970 County Championship, their first Championships since the period before the First World War, and when Page succeeded Les Ames as Kent's manager in 1975 the team were joint winners of the Championship in 1977 and won the competition outright the following season. although he clashed with Mike Denness soon after becoming manager, leading to Denness leaving the club. In 1981 Page became Kent's Director of Youth Cricket, a role he held until shortly before his death. He lived at Offham and was Chairman of Offham Cricket Club between 1968 and 1971.

Page died in a car crash at Tunbridge Wells in 1990 whilst driving home from a coaching session at Sevenoaks. He was aged 60.