Famous Cricketers No 44 - Sir Alec V. Bedser, C.B.E.

Elsewhere, Ian Peebles described his career “In fourteen years, Alec Bedser has had every opportunity to prove himself in every subtle variation of his craft. His early days in Test match cricket saw him battling, with little effective support, against some pretty powerful batting. Against strong Australian and West Indian batting sides Bedser learnt the patience, cunning and faith in eventual justice which combined to make the best use of his talent” Alex Bannister of the Daily Mail wrote “In 51 Test Matches he never had a regular opening partner, in fact there was no fewer than 17, starting with Bill Bowes and ending with Frank Tyson. There was no royal road to success, but Bedser was blessed with immense strength, a huge hand in which to grip and master the ball, a stout heart and an innate sense of rhythm, which led to a classic style. Indeed from the moment the weight was thrown back on his right foot as the final swing began to the model follow through. Bedser was the bowler for all to copy.” Statistically, it is interesting to compare his career against Australia in Test matches with that of Lindwall, who was their main strike bowler, during the same period. Matches Balls Runs Wkts Ave SR RR Bedser 21 7065 2859 104 27.49 67.93 40.47 (1946/47 to 1954/55) 336 per match Lindwall 29 6266 2559 114 22.44 54.96 40.83 (1946/47 to 1958/59) 216 per match These figures show how Bedser was used as a stock bowler maintaining a runs conceded rate equal to Lindwall with a lesser strike rate but with Lindwall bowling far fewer balls per match. Alec Bedser was picked for the M.C.C. Team to Australia and New Zealand in 1946/47. He had never previously been separated from his brother but whilst sailing out to Australia on the Stirling Castle , a cable was received informing him that thanks to the generosity of the Pools magnate, Alfred Cope, Eric would be able to join them and throughout the Tour he helped Bill Ferguson with baggage duties. Hammond was conscious of his weak bowling attack and rested both Bedser and D.V.P.Wright as much as possible in the early part of the Tour. In the First Test at Brisbane, Australia scored 645 but Charles Bray of the Daily Herald wrote “Bradman was not the hero of the day. Alec Bedser, who bowled magnificently, his illness is an unpleasant type (stomach trouble - a legacy of war service in Italy), and not until late in the afternoon did he give in, and then he had to retire for the rest of the day. But before he went, he had Bradman, Hassett and Morris tied in knots and I doubt whether either Bradman or Hassett has ever made 50 in a match in which as many runs came off the edge of the bat.” In Adelaide, Bradman was bowled by Bedser for a duck and Don admitted that it was the finest ball ever to take his wicket. In the last Test, Bedser and Wright bowled 100 out of 128 overs. In the series Australia bowled 948 overs evenly distributed amongst their bowlers with McCool bowling 182 overs, Toshack 175 and their opening bowlers, Lindwall and Miller 122 overs each. England bowled 832 overs, of which Bedser bowled 246.3 and Wright 240.2 overs. Under the guidance of George Geary, he added the leg-cutter to his natural in-swing and went on to take 100 wickets in eleven seasons and in five of these seasons took 100 wickets for Surrey. Journalist Cliff Cary reported a conversation between old Test Cricketers in Melbourne. “A pity Eric changed to off-spin.” Cary continued “A Bedser at each end with the new ball would have given our chaps a headache or two”. At which suggestion, Lindsay Hassett murmured “Heaven forbid”. 5