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The Queensland batsman Martin Kent was a nobody until he was signed to
make up the numbers for World Series Cricket. Like a number of obscure
State cricketers taken on by Kerry Packer he was earmarked for the
up-country missionary matches played by the WSC Cavaliers XI. When he
got an unexpected to chance to play in the Australian Supertest team he
grabbed it with both hands, and laid the foundations for an official
Test career.
The Australian selectors might not have noticed him when he
made his Queensland debut in 1974-75, but his State captain Greg
Chappell saw enough to take him to South Africa with a team called the
International Wanderers in 1975-76. He scored 55 at Newlands and 155 at
Johannesburg against an experimental South African multi-racial XI which
included coloured left arm spinner Babu Ebrahim, who had made his name
in the Lancashire Leagues, as well as Vincent van der Bijl, Rupert
Hanley and Rodney Ontong.
He made only 2 and 4 for Australia against the
World in the Supertest in Sydney in 1978, but was the batting star when
World Series took their rebel Australian side to the West Indies. He
scored 9 and 30 in Kingston, top scored with 78 in Barbados, 7 and 45 in
Trinidad, 51 and 28 in Georgetown, and 40 in Antigua against Roberts,
Holding Croft and Daniel. He made 34 and 61 in two unofficial ODIs at
Port of Spain. Australia took him to Sri Lanka in 1981, where he scored 6
and 4 in the home sides last international before being granted Test
status, and made 62 in an ODI at the SSC.
Kent finally made his Test
debut at Edgbaston in 1981, scoring 46 and being bowled for 10 during
Botham's match-winning second innings spell. He top-scored with 52 at
Old Trafford and can perhaps consider himself a little unfortunate that
the next Test, at the Oval, proved to be his last. (Bob Harragan)
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