What yousaid


Almost no other player provoked such extreme reactions in magazine letters pages


Gower’s 117 Tests remain a record for


England.* But with more sympathetic handling he might have played many more, and would probably be adding to his total – not to mention adding to our own enjoyment – at least until his 40th birthday in April 1997. However, he became an anachronism in a joyless era of sprints and press-ups. During the course of a career that spanned


19 summers, Gower collected a good many medals and gongs around the world, but the proudest possession on his mantelpiece at home is a trophy from a national newspaper that does not, on the face of it, mean very much, neither was it accompanied by any financial reward. It is a plaque inscribed with the words: “For Fun, Style and Excellence”, which was a perfect way of summing up both his philosophy and his career. Cricket, even in the high-voltage atmosphere of modern Test matches, was never without fun while Gower


l}‘I, um, bat.’ It was


saying that he dabbled in ceilings~


ike Michelangelo


was at the crease. Even those who claim he never made the fullest use of his talents would admit to an inimitable style, and you do not score 8,231 Test runs at an average of 44.25 without excelling at the game. His first mentor at Leicester was Raymond


Illingworth, a blunt Yorkshireman not much given to frivolity. Yet Illingworth recognised very early one of cricket’s essential truisms. Change the man and you change the cricketer. He had the occasional half-hearted stab, such as delivering a stern lecture over what he regarded as dress just the wrong side of acceptably casual during one away trip, whereupon Gower came down for breakfast next morning attired in full evening dress. Slightly suspicious, given the young Gower’s already blossoming reputation as a bon viveur, Illingworth spluttered: “Bloody hell, Gower. Have you just come in?” In a different context, the words “Gower’s just come in” emptied bars in cricket grounds


Allan Border’s Australia win Ashes 4-0. Gower sacked; Gooch appointed. He leaves Gower out of winter tour to West Indies


ne july august september


all around the world. Often they would be filled again soon enough, perhaps after one of those cameos in which Gower’s entire career could be captured in a single over. A couple of sumptuous cover drives for four, a languid pull to the midwicket boundary, two leaden- footed air shots, and finally the seemingly careless snick to gully. However, he also played innings of prolonged genius and, occasionally, just to remind his detractors, he would get his head down and graft with every bit as single- minded a purpose as the England captain who finally gave up on him, Graham Gooch. He was comfortably the most treasured


English cricketer of his generation, and possibly the most treasured ever. This puzzled even him (Gower at least recognised one or two of his more frustrating traits) but it may not have been unconnected to the Englishman’s innate suspicion of perfection, plus his almost complete lack of ego. His inherently lazy nature made him an


indifferent captain, particularly at county level, where the fact he was largely an instinctive player made it difficult for him to sympathise with and offer advice to individuals; and by his own admission he lost touch too often when away on Test duty. As a Test captain he shone most brightly on the 1984-85 India tour, where his positive outlook rubbed off on the team in uncomfortable surroundings. Gower was tactically uninspiring, although he never wavered in his belief that Test players were good enough not to require the sergeant-majorish treatment that he latterly perceived from Gooch and the team manager, Micky Stewart. When he started his career, he was a shy


lad who liked the occasional glass of house wine. When he finished, he was an extrovert imbiber of vintage champagne. However, the reason he was loved, as well as admired, is that he finished with as few airs and graces as he had when he began – except in his batting, which was graceful to the last.


* Now surpassed by Gooch (118 Tests) and Alec Stewart (133)


FromWisden Cricketers’ Almanack 1994. Martin Johnson was, at the time, cricket correspondent at The Independent, a post he had held on the Leicester Mercury during Gower’s early career


THE greatest irony of the whole Faisalabad incident [Mike Gatting’s infamous finger- jabbing spat with umpire Shakoor Rana] was that when David Gower was sacked as England’s captain the selectors were looking for a captain who ‘waves his arms around and imposes himself on the game.’ Gatting waved his arms and imposed himself on the game! Was this what the selectors were looking for? Would Mr Gower have acted in the same manner? Mr Gower – next captain of England?† Andrew Dixon Cheam, Surrey Wisden Cricket Monthly, February 1988


†Gower was reappointed England captain just over a year later, in time for the 1989 Ashes (see next letter)


WE, who have been appalled by the humiliation of England’s cricketers this summer, consider that much of the fault lies with the lack of leadership displayed by David Gower. Had England retained the Ashes, we expect that he would have been knighted. Under the circumstances, therefore, we submit that he should be put in the Tower of London, preferably in chains, for a long period. Hugh and Malcolm Fowler Angmering-on-Sea, Sussex Wisden Cricket Monthly, October 1989


AS A misguided 17-year-old of limited cricketing ability, I have gradually accepted that my dream of playing for England at Lord’s was an unobtainable fantasy. Imagine then the encouragement I gained when reading the England touring team for the winter [for Tests in India, from which Gower was controversially omitted by Graham Gooch as a negative influence]. Naively, I had assumed the selectors would select the best players of the past season. The innocence of youth! Ewan Phillips Wisden Cricket Monthly, November 1992


PRAWNS flu, smog, poor selection … what poppycock! The reason for England’s defeat [on the 1992-93 India tour, for which Gower was left out, partly as a result of the previous winter’s Tiger Moth fly-past – see Timeline, p24] is obvious. Gower was disrupting the team by being on the subcontinent as a media commentator. Plainly he should once again be held responsible – and rumour has it he has been travelling by aeroplane. What more evidence is needed? John Dennis Petersfield, Hants Wisden Cricket Monthly, April 1993


Sinks a hire car on a (mainly) frozen Swiss lake during a late-night joyride. Bush and Gorbachev declare the Cold War is near its end


}It’s too early to talk about cancelling the next Ashes, but …


october november december january february march ~– WCM


1990


Gatting leads South Africa ‘rebel’ tour


Joins Hampshire


Scores hundred on Championship debut for Hampshire


april may june


Unbeaten 157 helps England save Oval Test and ensure selection for winter Ashes tour


july august


Regains England place for India series 23


septem


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