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English
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England
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ENG
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Alec Bedser
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Cricket_no_picpng
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Right-handed Batsman (RHB)
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Right-arm Fast Bowler (RMF)
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51
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714
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1275
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0/1
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79
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15918
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236
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2489
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15
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5
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7/44
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26c
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485
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5735
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1451
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1/13
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126
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106118
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1924
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2041
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96
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16
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8/18
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289c
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22 June
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1946
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12 July
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1955
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,
CBE , (born
July 4 1918 ) was a professional
English Cricket er, chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and president of
Surrey County Cricket Club , and is widely regarded as one of the greatest English cricketers of the
20th Century .
He was an outstanding right-arm
Fast Bowler for Surrey and England in a
First-class playing career that spanned twenty-one years, taking an incredible 1924 first-class
Wicket s in 485 matches during this time.
Bedser was born in
Reading ,
Berkshire , just minutes after
Identical Twin brother
Eric , his father stationed there with the
Royal Air Force . Within six months the Bedser family moved to
Woking where at the age of seven, both Alec and Eric played their first organised cricket, and over the next decade played together for
Monument Hill School and
Woking Cricket Club .
A career in
Law beckoned for the twins as they joined a local firm of solicitors. After being spotted practicing in the nets for Woking Cricket Club by Surrey coach
Alan Peach , they were recruited to the staff at
The Oval in
1938 . A year later both made their first-class debuts for the first team. Their early cricketing careers were cut short though as in
1939 , as both were called up by the RAF to serve in
World War II , where they saw action at
Dunkirk ,
North Africa ,
Italy and
Austria , and the pair were demobilised in
1946 .
Alec had impressed during war-time cricket matches; in games for the British RAF, he took figures of 6 for 27 (including a
Hat-trick ) against
The West Indies , and 9 for 36 against a Metropolitan Police team, featuring another hat-trick.
In his first full county season for Surrey, in 1946, he passed 100 wickets by July and established himself in the
England Test team. In each of his first two Tests, against the travelling
Indians , he took eleven wickets, match figures of 11 for 139 in his debut at
Lord's and 11 for 96 in the next game at
Manchester .
In 1947 Bedser was chosen as a
Wisden Cricketer Of The Year , recognising the amazing achievements he'd made for Surrey and England in 1946, the year after WWII had ended.
He won selection on the ensuing
Ashes tour of
Australia and for the better part of the next decade "carried England's bowling attack"
{Link without Title} .
In
1953 , at the age of 35, Bedser took 39 wickets at the
Average 17.48 at home to Australia, including career-best match figures of 14 for 99 in the
Nottingham Test, helping England regain the Ashes urn that year and demonstrating his longevity in a sport where many other fast bowlers have retired by that age.
In a Test career that went from 1946 to
1955 , Bedser played 51 matches, taking 236 wickets at an average of 24.89. During this time he was the spearhead of an English national team still recovering from the war, cementing his place in history in the mind's of England's cricket followers.
His entire first-class career spanned 485 matches, in which he helped Surrey to eight
County Championship s between
1950 and
1958 , and took 100 wickets in a county season eleven times, figures that ranks him favourably amongst the game's greats. He took five or more wickets in an innings 96 times, and ten wickets or more in a match 16 times.
After retiring from playing cricket in
1960 , at the age of 42, Bedser served as a national team selector for twenty-three years, acting as chairman of selectors between
1963 and
1981 . In addition, Bedser managed two England overseas tours, and was made president of Surrey in
1997 , recognition of his outstanding contribution to the county's cricketing fortunes over the previous five decades.
In October
2004 he was selected in 'England's Greatest Post-War XI' by
The Wisden Cricketer , an authoritative monthly cricket magazine.
Bedser was knighted for his services to cricket in
1996 .
Test Debut: vs
India ,
Lord's ,
1946
Last Test: vs
South Africa ,
Manchester ,
1955
- Bedser's best Test batting score of 79 was made against Australia , Leeds , 1948
- His best Test bowling figures of 7 for 44 came against Australia, Nottingham , 1953
