The Kent Cricket World is their Oyster – Member Profiles, Martin & Rita Greenway

For Kent Life Member, Martin Greenway and his wife Rita, the cricket world is their oyster. They have been to all the major cricket venues around the globe enjoying the game they love watching so much, but with a slight difference.

Most of the matches they attend are in fact Women’s games, not surprising as they are the proud parents of Lydia Greenway, one of the stalwart players of the England Women’s Cricket team since she made her debut in 2003, with more than 200 internationals to her name, and Martin and Rita have seen virtually all of them.

Martin is steeped in cricket and was a useful club player himself and in his younger days batted at number four for St Lawrence so he knows the Canterbury ground as both a player and supporter. The landscape at the ground has changed dramatically in recent seasons with more development to come and Martin enjoys nothing more than a day out there watching a county or limited overs game.

He is particularly impressed with the development of the Les Ames stand which now provides an excellent facility for spectators, but like most supporters would like to see the Woolley stand upgraded.

Martin’s grandparents lived very close to the ground and he was a frequent visitor, especially when visiting touring teams were playing and when his own chance came to play for St Lawrence in his early twenties he was a member of the team that won the Kent Premier League.

An admirer of Colin Cowdrey and Asif Iqbal, Martin now closely follows the career of young Kent player Alex Blake whose parents, Michelle and Andy are close family friends.

The Greenways have lived in Hayes in North Kent for many years and Martin played for them until he was well into his fifties, captaining some of their teams. “I sensibly decided to retire when my eyes were not too good at picking up the ball”, he said.

When they go to watch Kent games Martin and Rita usually travel down from Bromley to Canterbury on the train. The £125 I spent on Life Membership all those years ago was the bargain of a lifetime”, he said.

Although living close to one of Kent’s other grounds at Beckenham, Martin loved watching cricket at The Mote at Maidstone and hopes it will not be too long before the County are able to return there.

Cricket naturally plays a major part in Martin’s life and even when he is working he cannot escape the game as he is a representative for Readers, the major producers of cricket balls in this country.

Earlier in the season Martin and Rita were amongst a number of long standing supporters who have been invited to have lunch with Kent Club President Graham Johnson and they had an enjoyable time endlessly chatting about the game.

As well as being one of the stars of the England team daughter Lydia is also a member of the highly successful Kent Women’s team who recently won their County Championship for the sixth season out of the last ten and along with the Men’s County Championship winners are invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. “We were invited along to one of the evenings and it was a great experience”, said Martin. “We should all be very proud of the Kent Women’s side who have carried the flag of success for the game in this country at the highest level”

Cricket is now a full time job for Lydia and Mum and Dad will once again be on their travels watching their daughter. “We have been very lucky going all round the world to watch cricket but we feel as much loyalty to all Kent cricket, both Men’s and Women’s teams as we do to the international side”, said Martin

The Greenways sporting prowess also includes son Adam who was a useful footballer until injury ended his career and other daughter Emma who is an accomplished hockey player.

Interview by Peter Burrowes.