Alf Gover
Encyclopedia
Alfred Richard Gover MBE
(29 February 1908 – 7 October 2001) was an English
Test
cricket
er. He was the mainstay of the Surrey
bowling attack during the 1930s and played four Tests before and after the Second World War. He also founded and ran a cricket school in Wandsworth
that coached many notable players.
"Good cricket was a crusade for one of the game's kindest men" wrote the cricket correspondent, Colin Bateman, about Gover's long-standing coaching exploits.
, Surrey
in 1908. A fast right-hand bowler with a deadly outswinger and a cleverly disguised breakback, Gover began bowling at a young age and was first taken on trial by Essex
in July 1926. He bowled Johnny Douglas
at the nets several times and travelled with Essex as twelfth man to The Oval
in 1927. A chance conversation with Herbert Strudwick
, the great Surrey wicket-keeper, led Gover to changing county because he thought his prospects would be brighter with Surrey.
Gover played his first county match against Sussex
in June 1928, but did not establish himself permanently until 1930. With Freddie Brown, Percy Fender
and Maurice Allom
available up to 1932, Gover did not play a major role, but with Brown and Allom moving into business Gover was called upon to bear a much heavier burden in the dry summer of 1933 and responded with 98 County Championship wickets. His advance was the result of curbing a tendency to overstep the crease, but his cumbersome action was still criticised even as his strong build of 188 cm (6 feet 2 inches) and 87 kg (13 stone 10 pounds), combined with vast capacity for work on the placid Oval wickets had him in contention for a Test
place against such candidates as Bowes
, Farnes
, "Nobby" Clark
and Copson
.
In 1935 Gover's progress was stalled by him shortening his run to conserve his energy, but when allowed his full run in 1936 Gover went from strength to strength. He took 54 wickets in May mostly on the placid Oval pitches, and carried on so well that he took 171 County Championship wickets for 15.42 each even when many pitches were too wet for him. He played for England against India at Old Trafford
but the wicket was so good that even his energetic delivery could produce no venom. The following year (1937) Gover did equally well, again taking 201 wickets. He remains the only fast bowler to take that many wickets in a season, since Tom Richardson
in 1897.
Injury on a winter tour of India ended Gover's run of success: in 1938, apart from a week in late May and early June when he achieved his best figures of 14 for 85 against Worcestershire, Gover was clearly unfit (despite periods of rest) and had so little venom his haul of wickets fell from 201 to just 86. Though he recovered somewhat in 1939 with increased fitness, it was already evident Gover would struggle to regain the speed and venom of his two great years. However, when county cricket resumed after World War II
in 1946 Gover, at 38, bowled so well under unfavourable conditions that he played in the Third Test against India. With his strong physique it was surprising he was not chosen for either the 1936/1937 or 1946/1947 Ashes tours. He decided 1947 would be his last year in county cricket, but Gover was still regarded as the best fast bowler in England, and there were calls for him to be selected for the last Test when Harold Butler
withdrew and Alec Bedser
was out of form.
, he played a couple of matches in 1948 for Bedfordshire
in the Minor Counties competition, taking 25 wickets at just over nine runs each. But after that he devoted his life to his cricket school in Wandsworth. He established this school in 1938 and had already trained a number of future Test players by the time of his last match for Surrey. However, in the following decades Gover gradually developed his school to such an extent that it became regarded as the most valuable school for the fine-tuning of cricketers' skills. His school, redeveloped from its humble origins as an industrial shed, was where many Test or potential Test players developed the necessary skill to rise to the highest levels in cricket. Frank Tyson
, Viv Richards
, Andy Roberts and Ian Bishop are some notable examples of players who benefitted from Gover's coaching. While covering the 1954-55 Ashes tour as a journalist he advised Tyson
to shorten his run-up, which proved to be a turning point in the series. It was primarily for his work in cricket coaching, rather than his deeds for Surrey in the 1930s and 1940s, that Gover was awarded an MBE
in 1998.
Gover continued to be principal at his school until 1989, and he wrote widely on cricket right up to his death, in London
, at the age of 93 in 2001. At the time of his death Gover was the oldest surviving Test cricketer, and his death left Bob Appleyard
as the only living bowler who had ever taken 200 wickets in an English season.
He was President of the Lord's Taverners
in 1974 and President of Surrey for 1980. He was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(29 February 1908 – 7 October 2001) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er. He was the mainstay of the Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
bowling attack during the 1930s and played four Tests before and after the Second World War. He also founded and ran a cricket school in Wandsworth
Wandsworth
Wandsworth is a district of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Toponymy:...
that coached many notable players.
"Good cricket was a crusade for one of the game's kindest men" wrote the cricket correspondent, Colin Bateman, about Gover's long-standing coaching exploits.
Playing career
Alf Gover was born in EpsomEpsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
in 1908. A fast right-hand bowler with a deadly outswinger and a cleverly disguised breakback, Gover began bowling at a young age and was first taken on trial by Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
in July 1926. He bowled Johnny Douglas
Johnny Douglas
John "Johnny" William Henry Tyler Douglas was a cricketer who was captain of the England team and an Olympic boxer.-Early life:...
at the nets several times and travelled with Essex as twelfth man to The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in 1927. A chance conversation with Herbert Strudwick
Herbert Strudwick
Herbert Strudwick was an English wicket-keeper...
, the great Surrey wicket-keeper, led Gover to changing county because he thought his prospects would be brighter with Surrey.
Gover played his first county match against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
in June 1928, but did not establish himself permanently until 1930. With Freddie Brown, Percy Fender
Percy Fender
Percy George Herbert Fender was an English all-round cricketer who played 13 Tests for England. He was a middle order batsman and bowled mainly leg spin.-Biography:...
and Maurice Allom
Maurice Allom
Maurice James Carrick Allom was an English cricketer who played in five Tests from 1930 to 1931. Along with Peter Petherick and Damien Fleming, he is one of only three players to have taken a hat-trick on Test debut...
available up to 1932, Gover did not play a major role, but with Brown and Allom moving into business Gover was called upon to bear a much heavier burden in the dry summer of 1933 and responded with 98 County Championship wickets. His advance was the result of curbing a tendency to overstep the crease, but his cumbersome action was still criticised even as his strong build of 188 cm (6 feet 2 inches) and 87 kg (13 stone 10 pounds), combined with vast capacity for work on the placid Oval wickets had him in contention for a Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
place against such candidates as Bowes
Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes was one of the best bowlers of the interwar period and, for a time, the most important force behind Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship...
, Farnes
Ken Farnes
Kenneth Farnes was an English cricketer. He played in 15 Tests from 1934 to 1939.Farnes was born in Leytonstone, Essex, and was educated at the Royal Liberty School in Gidea Park. He made his first-class debut for Essex in 1930, aged only 19. He took 5-36 in his second county match against Kent...
, "Nobby" Clark
Edward Clark (cricketer)
Edward Winchester 'Nobby' Clark was a Northamptonshire cricketer of the inter-war period during which they were one of the weakest counties ever to play in the County Championship...
and Copson
Bill Copson
Bill Copson was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1932 and 1950, and for England between 1939 and 1947. He took over 1,000 wickets for Derbyshire, and was prominent in their 1936 Championship season...
.
In 1935 Gover's progress was stalled by him shortening his run to conserve his energy, but when allowed his full run in 1936 Gover went from strength to strength. He took 54 wickets in May mostly on the placid Oval pitches, and carried on so well that he took 171 County Championship wickets for 15.42 each even when many pitches were too wet for him. He played for England against India at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...
but the wicket was so good that even his energetic delivery could produce no venom. The following year (1937) Gover did equally well, again taking 201 wickets. He remains the only fast bowler to take that many wickets in a season, since Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
in 1897.
Injury on a winter tour of India ended Gover's run of success: in 1938, apart from a week in late May and early June when he achieved his best figures of 14 for 85 against Worcestershire, Gover was clearly unfit (despite periods of rest) and had so little venom his haul of wickets fell from 201 to just 86. Though he recovered somewhat in 1939 with increased fitness, it was already evident Gover would struggle to regain the speed and venom of his two great years. However, when county cricket resumed after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1946 Gover, at 38, bowled so well under unfavourable conditions that he played in the Third Test against India. With his strong physique it was surprising he was not chosen for either the 1936/1937 or 1946/1947 Ashes tours. He decided 1947 would be his last year in county cricket, but Gover was still regarded as the best fast bowler in England, and there were calls for him to be selected for the last Test when Harold Butler
Harold Butler (cricketer)
Harold Butler was an English fast-medium bowler, who was the best bowler for Nottinghamshire during the period on either side of World War II...
withdrew and Alec Bedser
Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club...
was out of form.
Coaching career
After Gover retired from first-class cricketFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
, he played a couple of matches in 1948 for Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire County Cricket Club
Bedfordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Bedfordshire and competing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy. The Minor Counties play three-day...
in the Minor Counties competition, taking 25 wickets at just over nine runs each. But after that he devoted his life to his cricket school in Wandsworth. He established this school in 1938 and had already trained a number of future Test players by the time of his last match for Surrey. However, in the following decades Gover gradually developed his school to such an extent that it became regarded as the most valuable school for the fine-tuning of cricketers' skills. His school, redeveloped from its humble origins as an industrial shed, was where many Test or potential Test players developed the necessary skill to rise to the highest levels in cricket. Frank Tyson
Frank Tyson
Frank Holmes Tyson is an England cricketer of the 1950s who became a journalist and cricket commentator after he emigrated to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets in...
, Viv Richards
Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
, Andy Roberts and Ian Bishop are some notable examples of players who benefitted from Gover's coaching. While covering the 1954-55 Ashes tour as a journalist he advised Tyson
Frank Tyson
Frank Holmes Tyson is an England cricketer of the 1950s who became a journalist and cricket commentator after he emigrated to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets in...
to shorten his run-up, which proved to be a turning point in the series. It was primarily for his work in cricket coaching, rather than his deeds for Surrey in the 1930s and 1940s, that Gover was awarded an MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1998.
Gover continued to be principal at his school until 1989, and he wrote widely on cricket right up to his death, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, at the age of 93 in 2001. At the time of his death Gover was the oldest surviving Test cricketer, and his death left Bob Appleyard
Bob Appleyard
Bob Appleyard is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer.He was one of the best English bowlers of the 1950s, a decade which saw England develop its strongest bowling attack of the twentieth century...
as the only living bowler who had ever taken 200 wickets in an English season.
He was President of the Lord's Taverners
Lord's Taverners
The Lord’s Taverners is a thriving club, the official charity for recreational cricket and the UK’s leading youth cricket and disability sports charity whose objective is to 'give young people, particularly those with special needs, a sporting chance'.The Lord’s Taverners was founded in 1950 by a...
in 1974 and President of Surrey for 1980. He was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium
Putney Vale Cemetery
Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in London is surrounded by Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, and is located within forty-seven acres of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938...
.