Colin Cowdrey suffers stroke

Former England captain Colin Cowdrey was Monday night described as "very ill" as he recovered in hospital after a stroke at his Sussex home on Sunday afternoon.

The former Kent captain, according to cricketunlimited.com, was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst, where the chief executive Lin Merrett said: "His condition will be reviewed by his physician in the morning. We are awaiting the result of a scan. He's very ill."

Cowdrey, 67, scored 42,719 runs (42.89) in a first-class career that ran from 1950-76. He scored 107 centuries and was the first cricketer from any country to appear in 100 Tests. Only Graham Gooch (118) and David Gower (114) have appeared more times for England, for whom he stands fourth in the list of scorers with 7,624 (44.06).

He led Kent to the championship in 1970 and the Gillette Cup in 1967. He also captained England but never, to his keen disappointment, in Australia, where he toured six times. He was knighted in the 1992 New Year's honours list and became a life peer three years ago.