Alec Bedser knighted
Alec Bedser has been knighted in the New Year's Honour List
Christopher Martin-Jenkins
15-Jun-2007
Alec Bedser has been fond of repeating Arthur Mailey's bon mot that "the last bowler to be knighted was Sir Francis Drake". Not any more because Alec Victor Bedser, now 78 and the 16th man to be knighted for his services to cricket, is also the first specialist bowler. A fierce patriot, his twin brother Eric will share his pride today, as always.
The pedant might argue that Gubby, Sir George, Allen was a
bowler first and foremost but he made 11 first-class hundreds,
one in a Test. Bedser, it is true, made a century himself, but
in 576 first-class innings he passed 50 on only 12 other
occasions.
With a bat he did his honest best, as he has throughout an
industrious life. But with a new ball he was in his element, a
holy terror whenever there was anything in the pitch and a
formidable opponent even on a flat one. Sturdy as an oak, he had
the perfect rocking action and his stock combination of
fast-medium inswing and leg cut brought him 1,924 wickets at 20
runs each: 236 at 24 in his 51 Tests.
A pillar of the all-conquering Surrey side of the 1950s, he
carried England's attack in the years of rebuilding after the
war and made lifelong friends of opponents, especially his most
demanding one, Don Bradman. He will be visiting Sir Donald in
Adelaide shortly, as he does in most winters.
Twice he was able to do so as manager of MCC tours, a reminder
that this honour reflects not just his bowling and his exemplary
bearing on the field but also his work for English cricket since
his retirement, including 13 years as chairman of selectors,
1969-81, during which England lost only two of their seven
series for the Ashes.
His stern criticism of the current standard of English bowling
is understandable: when Bedser played on the same ground on
which the second Test in Harare was drawn, his match figures
against a Rhodesia side containing three Test players were
28-14-36-7.
Cricketing Knights
Francis Lacey (1926), Fred Toone (1929), Pelham Warner (1937),
Donald Bradman (1949), Henry Leveson-Gower (1953), Jack Hobbs
(1953), Leonard Hutton (1956), Frank Worrell (1964), Neville
Cardus (1967), Garfield Sobers (1975), George Allen (1986),
Richard Hadlee (1990), Colin Cowdrey (1992), Clyde Walcott
(1994), Everton Weekes (1995), Alec Bedser (1996).
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)