Michael Henry Denness (1 December 1940 – 19 April 2013) was a Scottish cricketer who played for England, Scotland, Kent and Essex. Scotland did not have a representative international team at the time of Denness' career, so he could only play for England at Test and ODI level. He was the sixth player born in Scotland to play for England, after Gregor MacGregor, Alec Kennedy, Ian Peebles, David Larter and Eric Russell, but remains the only England captain to be born in Scotland (Douglas Jardine and Tony Greig had Scottish parents, but Jardine was born in Bombay and Greig in South Africa). Denness later became an ICC match referee. He was one of the inaugural inductees into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1975. He was president of Kent County Cricket Club in 2012–13. Early life Denness was born in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. His father was employed by W.D. & H.O. Wills, a tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer and part of Imperial Tobacco. After his family moved to Ayr, he was educated at Ayr Academy, where he played rugby with Ian Ure and Ian McLauchlan and played for Ayr Cricket Club at Cambusdoon, where he was coached by former Sussex player Charles Oakes. Denness was selected to play cricket for Scotland against Ireland in 1959 while still at school. Former Kent bowler Jimmy Allan was also in the Scotland team, and he suggested Denness's name to his former county. E. W. Swanton also met Denness in Ayr and put in a good word, and Les Ames invited Denness to a trial in 1961. Domestic cricket career Denness made his first-class debut for Kent against Essex in July 1962 but was dismissed by Jim Laker twice on a turning pitch for 0 and 3. But he quickly established himself in the team, scoring over 1,000 runs in the 1963 season. From 1964 he played as an opening batsman in partnership with Brian Luckhurst. Denness became a tall, stylish right-handed batsman. He received his county cap in 1965 and Kent won the County Championship in 1970 for the first time since 1913. He succeeded Colin Cowdrey as Kent captain at the beginning of the 1972 cricket season, having often substituted for Cowdrey when he was on Test duty. Under his captaincy, the club won the John Player League three times (1972, 1973,