Question:
Cowdrey's father, Ernest Arthur Cowdrey, played for the Surrey County Cricket Club Second XI and Berkshire County Cricket Club in the Minor Counties, but lacked the talent to enter first-class cricket and his father made him join a bank. Ernest Cowdrey had been born in Calcutta, moved to India to run a tea plantation and played the 1926-27 MCC touring team for the Madras Europeans XI and top scored with 48. His mother, Molly Cowdrey (nee Taylor), played tennis and hockey. Michael Colin Cowdrey was born on his father's tea plantation at Ootacamund, Madras Presidency, although his birthplace was usually misrecorded as Bangalore 100 miles to the north.
Cowdrey was asked to play for Kent Young Amateurs in 1948 and made 157 against Sussex Young Amateurs, 87 against Middlesex Young Amateurs and 79 against Surrey Young Amateurs. He was asked to join the Kent Second XI in 1949 and played Norfolk, Wiltshire and Devon. In 1949-1950 Cowdrey was made the school cricket captain and in 1950 made 126 not out for Public Schools against the Combined Services at Lords. This was followed by being called up for Kent County Cricket Club while still only 17 and he made 15 and 26 on his first-class debut against Derbyshire. Cowdrey made his first first-class century in 1951, 143 for the Free Foresters vs Oxford University, soon followed by 106 for the Gentlemen vs Players at Scarborough, captained by Len Hutton with Alec Bedser leading the bowling. After the match the Yorkshire captain Brian Sellers told him "If you are not playing for England and on that boat to Australia there'll only be one person to blame". He made 1,189 runs (33.02) in the 1951 season and was awarded his county cap by captain David Clark after making 71 against the touring South Africans, at 18 the youngest man to be capped by Kent. Cowdrey won a Heath Harrison Exhibition award and a place at Brasenose College at Oxford University to study geography in the autumn of 1951. He played for the Oxford University Cricket Club in 1952 and 1953 at the start of the season and the rest of the summer for Kent. He made 50 and 57 for the Gentlemen vs the 1953 Australians at Lords. In 1954 he captained Oxford University and was a surprise choice for the MCC tour of Australia, replacing Willie Watson. Len Hutton later told him that his selection was a gamble, but it was thought that his technique would be good on the hard Australian wickets. At 21, Cowdrey was the youngest man in the side and the schoolboy photographs used in the brochures made him appear younger. He had yet to make a century in the County Championship, go on tour or play a Test, though he was made twelfth man for the Fourth Test against Pakistan and fielded for 20 minutes, but was so nervous he could barely watch.
Answer this question using a quote from the text above:

Did he do well at this time?

Answer:
made 157 against Sussex Young Amateurs,

Answer the question at the end by quoting:

Arthur Irwin was born in 1858 in Toronto, Ontario, to an Irish blacksmith and a Canadian mother. As a child, he moved with his family to Boston and attended school there. He played local amateur baseball from 1873 until he was recruited by the Worcester Ruby Legs of the National Association in 1879. In late 1879, manager Frank Bancroft took Irwin and most of the other Worcester players on a baseball tour which included visits to New Orleans and Cuba.
Irwin's major league career began when the Ruby Legs moved into the National League (NL) in 1880. He led the league in assists in his rookie season, and remained with the team through 1882, when it folded due to poor attendance. Irwin next spent three seasons with the Providence Grays, and was captain and starting shortstop of the 1884 Providence team that became world champions. The 1884 Grays featured star pitchers Charles Radbourn and Charlie Sweeney; the two hurlers did not get along well, and Sweeney left the team in the middle of the season. The club folded after a fourth-place finish in 1885. Irwin moved on to the newly formed Philadelphia Quakers in 1886. Tragedy struck the Philadelphia squad in 1888 when pitcher Charlie Ferguson developed typhoid fever, dying at Irwin's home. During the 1889 season, Irwin went to the Washington Nationals for his first opportunity as player-manager, although the team folded at the end of the season. He next played for the Boston Reds in the Players' League in 1890. That same year, Irwin coached the baseball team at Dartmouth College. While Irwin served as a player-manager for Boston in 1890, he was able to focus on the managerial role for the team in 1891. That year the team signed his brother, John Irwin, on May 21. Newspapers brought accusations of nepotism and criticized John's mediocre play. John Irwin was released by Boston on July 16, and his major league playing career was over by the next month. Although Irwin's regular playing career ended after the 1890 season, he appeared in six games while managing the Boston team after it moved to the American Association in 1891. He also played in one game while managing the 1894 Philadelphia Phillies. A left-handed hitter, Irwin finished his playing career with 1,015 games played and batted .241 in 4,190 plate appearances. He tallied 396 runs batted in and 552 runs scored. Stolen bases were not awarded until 1886, but Irwin tallied 93 stolen bases in his last 532 games. He recorded an .878 career fielding percentage, committing 647 errors in 5,317 fielding chances. Irwin played 947 games at shortstop and 56 games at third base. He also appeared at second base, pitcher and catcher.

What position did he play?
Irwin next spent three seasons with the Providence Grays, and was captain and starting shortstop of the 1884 Providence team