FORMER Kent and England all-rounder Mark Ealham, now with Nottinghamshire, was one of Brian Luckhurst’s most successful coaching prodigies.

Ealham is aware of the debt of gratitude he owes to his former mentor, a man he describes as "Kent through and through".

Ealham said: "He was very influential for all the Kent players of my age group and I spent many happy hours in the nets with Lucky.

"While Colin Page moulded the way I would play the game Lucky influenced me technically and in the way I approached the game mentally.

"When you look back at the caricatures of Lucky from the 1970s they all have one thing in common, that huge smile of his, and when I thought of him today it was the grin, the chewing gum and the bloke clearly enjoying coaching or playing the game he loved that came to mind.

"My dad was keen for me to work with Lucky because he came into the game as a spinner who batted at nine, but was so determined he moulded himself into an England opening batsman. Those were the qualities my father wanted for me.

"Lucky had a vested interest in me as a youngster and always took a keen interest in my career. My last memory of him was doing a bat raffle at his local pub toward the end of my benefit year.

"He was desperately disappointed I was leaving Kent, but we talked about cricket for a couple of hours over a pint and all was well with the game again."

Mark’s father and former county captain from 1978 to 1980, Alan Ealham, served alongside Mr Luckhurst as a Kent player and coach for over 40 years.

Recalling his colleague, Mr Ealham said: "Brian wasn’t a big bloke, but he was one of the toughest characters ever to play the game.

"When we both came into cricket there wasn’t a lot of time for coaching, but a youngster would rightly model himself on Lucky because of his tremendous dedication.

"He was dogged and determined to win every game and worked so hard that he managed to get to the very top playing the game his way.

"His sheer strength of character helped him develop from a tail ender into an international class opening bat.

"I remember one game at Tunbridge Wells early in Brian’s career when he batted throughout the first session to go into lunch 20 not out.

"At the interval our manager Les Ames, who as a player had been a great stylist and a dashing batsman, muttered that Lucky would never player for Kent again but Brian ended the day with a hundred and Mr Ames was made to eat his words.

"He was a brilliant short-leg fielder, had an accurate throwing arm and became the central cog in Kent’s most successful one-day side.

"No one would have believed Lucky would become so adept at limited overs cricket, and at first he would simply anchor the innings and we would all bat around him.

"But by the end of his career he found the confidence to improvise and became something of an expert in that form of the game."

Recalling some of Lucky’s most gritty innings Mr Ealham added: "I remember one knock at Chesterfield when Lucky took bruise after bruise from Derbyshire’s Alan Ward.

“He was battered when he came off for lunch, but his ritual was always the same, he had a pint of milk and a couple of cigarettes and went out to do battle again.

"He came off at tea unbeaten with a hundred, yet still had a pint of milk and two fags and went back out for more punishment.

"It’s sad to think now that his regime may have led to his demise, but that’s how we in the dressing room will remember Lucky.

"Like me he was Kent through and through, all we ever wanted was to wear the famous Kent horse on our chests. So much so we never could dare dream of playing for England."