Alan Hill - The Bedsers

Contents

Alan Hill

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licenced or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Epub ISBN: 9781780574141

Version 1.0

www.mainstreampublishing.com

Copyright Alan Hill, 2001

All rights reserved

The moral right of the author has been asserted

First published in Great Britain in 2001 by

MAINSTREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY (EDINBURGH) LTD

7 Albany Street

Edinburgh EH1 3UG

ISBN 1 84018 591 0

This edition, 2002

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for insertion in a magazine, newspaper or broadcast

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

To Mac and Dorothy.

With affection and gratitude for

memories of winning days at Kennington

and hospitality worthy of champions.

Foreword

by Rt. Hon. John Major, CH, MP

In all cricket history there has been no partnership to rival that of Alec and Eric Bedser. To know one is to know the other, for they are as identical in mind as they are in form. Often at The Oval or Lords I have sat with them to hear one express a view about, say, field-placing or a batsmans technique and a few moments later without any possibility of consultation to hear the other express a similar sentiment. It was the view of two seasoned professionals with an identical eye.

They have spent a lifetime in cricket. Alec is one of our greatest bowlers: in the line of Sydney Barnes and Maurice Tate came Alec Bedser with, as yet, no successor. For years Alec was the England pace attack, toiling so often against the great Australian sides led by Don Bradman and Lindsay Hassett. He bowled hour upon hour, an indefatigable giant, naggingly accurate, inventive and stately as a galleon as he ran up to the wicket. No heart for England was ever stronger or more willing and few more cunning, for this thinking bowler introduced the leg-cutter to cricket history.

Eric was ever at his side and he was a fine cricketer, too, with both bat and ball. In most decades Eric would have bowled his off-spin for England but fate put Jim Laker, perhaps the greatest of them all, on the pitch at the same time and in the same Surrey team. Even so, Eric played in a Test trial in 1950, only to find the gods frowning on his fortune in that game as Laker took eight wickets for two runs. I can see Eric now, as a batsman, his bulk crouched at the crease, his bat seemingly a toy in his massive hands but one used often enough to good effect for his team.

This book is more than a cricketing biography: it is a unique story of two very special people with values and opinions that do not change with the fashions of the day. They have also a touching love of their country that is as endearing as it is refreshing. England first, always for Alec and Eric could only be English but Australia, too, is a great love in their lives. From humble origins through national celebrity to their status today as grand old men of cricket, their story is told by Alan Hill with the affection and insight that was evident in his earlier biographies of their friends and team-mates, Peter May and Jim Laker.

On and off the field, this is a tale worth telling.

Introduction

The celebration dinners, in London and Sydney, accorded recognition of the prestige of the Bedser twins. On their 80th birthday the tributes carried distant echoes of the euphoria which greeted the end of the Second World War. Affection is lasting for sporting heroes who assisted in the healing balm of rehabilitation: Cricketing figures, like Alec and Eric, are revered because they played a major part in Englands recovery after the war, says one of their close friends, Doug Insole.

Sir Donald Bradman, Australias sportsman of the century, paid his own eloquent birthday tribute. He recalled a staunch and true friendship, augmented by the annual visits of the Bedsers to Australia: I think their outstanding contribution to cricket and life in general has been their transparent honesty and sincerity. They exude an integrity which is the hallmark of great citizens, and they are examples for young people of all ages to follow.

Taking a lead from the great Australian, in my own journey of discovery, I can testify to the steadfast qualities of Sir Alec and his inseparable twin brother, Eric. Over the past months we have had many conversations at the Woking home they helped to build with their father nearly 50 years ago. We have ranged over a variety of topics and there has emerged a story of a resolute commitment to a game which has brought so many blessings.

The burden of my work on a long overdue biography has been immeasurably lightened by their unstinting cooperation. Their observations have given substance to my chronicle of their progress from humble origins at Woking to high estate as key members of the Surrey team in the championship years in the 1950s. Michael Barton, one of their first county captains, has referred to Alecs powers of endurance as Surreys, and Englands, bowling standard-bearer in the early post-war years: Alec really carried us during that time. There is no question that he was the man who contributed most to our successes.

The Bedsers parade a beguiling modesty to deflect extravagant claims. They prefer to relate the virtues and rewards of a rigorous apprenticeship on the nursery slopes at The Oval. It was an insistent passage of dialogue in our talks. Any vices, if they can be so described, reveal an implacable realism which places them in dispute with the manners and technical flaws of the modern game. The criticism is considered harsh and unrelenting in some quarters, but the standards set by the Bedsers are imposingly high and should be accepted in the spirit of a challenge by the cricketers of today. Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Botham, with whom Alec had some interesting times as a selector, are cited by him as exemplars of their trade.

The pattern of the lives of the Bedsers is firmly rooted in disciplines bequeathed to them during a strict but kindly upbringing. The twins speak with fervour of a wonderful childhood and the devotion to their parents is manifest and endearing. I have been permitted to eavesdrop on this time and for my sketch of the Woking of their infancy I am also indebted to Ian Wakeford, who allowed me access to his history of the Surrey town.

The recital of the years of acclaim under the adventurous leadership of Stuart Surridge has also been enhanced by the appreciative memories of Surridges contemporaries, Geoffrey Howard, the former county secretary, Alf Gover, Peter Loader, Raman Subba Row, Dave Fletcher and, notably, Arthur McIntyre an adept and courageous wicket-keeper who, along with Godfrey Evans at England level, was judged as an influential ally in Alecs progress to stardom. Alec himself generously recalls the benefits of their association: Mac was a magnificent keeper who did everything so easily and never made a fuss. He had the most difficult job in English county cricket, standing up to four bowlers.