David Gower

England|Top order Batter
David Gower
INTL CAREER: 1978 - 1992
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Full Name

David Ivon Gower

Born

April 01, 1957, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Age

66y 353d

Nicknames

Stoat, Lubo, Lu

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Offbreak

Playing Role

Top order Batter

Height

5ft 11in

Education

King's School, Canterbury; University College, London

Other

Commentator

David Gower, the fluffy-haired, ethereal-looking young man who pulled his first ball in Test cricket for four in 1978 was to be England's most consistent and consistently exasperating batter of the 1980s. Other batters go in and out of form: Gower always seemed to play the same - beautifully, until the moment he made a mistake. Sometimes the mistake was put off long enough for him to play an innings of unforgettable brilliance.

Gower was a left-hander with a strong top hand and his strokes had a liquid, graceful feel: in an era of biffers, he was a caresser. When he edged a catch, he would be damned as irresponsible, but with his style, the difference between an exquisite stroke and a nick was little more than an inch. He could dig down when required, batting over six and a half hours for an unbeaten 154 to save the 1981 Jamaica Test, "having given only one chance in a massive piece of concentration", according to Wisden.

His character appeared as uncomplicated as his cricket, but his devil-may-care mien hid some complexities, even perhaps an inner loneliness. Lazy journalists called him "laid-back" but you don't score 8231 Test runs without a cladding of steel. And, as captain, his apparent insouciance hid a genuine belief that England should pick the best players and let them get on with it. This worked against the Australians in the 1985 Ashes - in which he was unstoppable with the bat, scoring 732 runs at an average of 81 - but was disastrous the following winter in the West Indies and even more so when Gower regained the captaincy for the 1989 Ashes series. He was out of tune with Graham Gooch's tote-that-barge regime that followed and county cricket bored him, so he retired prematurely into a career as a TV personality so successful that his cricket seemed mere preparation.

David Gower Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests11720418823121544.251626850.59183997910740
ODIs1141118317015830.77421875.1571229022440
FC448727702633922840.08--53136--2801
List A430417491225515833.30--1956--1620

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests1175362011/11/120.003.3336.0000
ODIs11425140---16.80-000
FC448-26022743/47-56.755.2365.0-00
List A430-20300---9.00-000
David Ivon Gower

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Test
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Debut/Last Matches of David Gower

Photos of David Gower

Bob Willis chats to his colleague David Gower
Alastair Cook, Graeme Swann, Robert Hutton (for Len Hutton), James Anderson, Joe Root, Bob Willis and David Gower felicitated as part of ECB's all-time XI
David Gower, Keith Bradshaw and Allan Lamb at the launch of New Commonwealth
Sky commentators Bob Willis, Mike Atherton, David Gower and Ian Botham have a chat
David Gower and Ted Dexter take a lap around the ground as part of the celebrations to mark Edgbaston's 50th Test in August 2017
Chris Cowdrey and David Gower