By Kevin Redsull Derek Towe has reached the pinnacle of his near 60-year cricketing career as a member of the England over-70s team touring Australia.
The Betteshanger Colliery Welfare all-rounder is part of a 17-strong England squad who will play 11 matches Down Under, including three one-day internationals against Australia’s over-70s team, after he helped Kent win the National Over-70s Cup.
Kent beat Suffolk by 38 runs in the final in September. That followed on from Towe being a member of the Kent side who won the National Over-60s Cup in 2016 and 2021.
But it was in the summer of 1963 Towe, aged just 11, was called up to join his father Roy - another Betteshanger stalwart - to play in a match against Tilmanstone Ravens, starting his 59-year association with the Welfare Ground club.