Alf Gover
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| Full name | Alfred Richard Gover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
29 February 1908 Epsom, Surrey, England |
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| Died | 7 October 2001 (aged 93) London, England |
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| Batting style | Right-hand bat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm fast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Alfred Richard (Alf) Gover MBE (29 February 1908 – 7 October 2001) was an English Test cricketer. He was the mainstay of the Surrey bowling attack during the 1930s and played four Tests before and after the Second World War. He also founded and ran a cricket school in Wandsworth that coached many notable players.
"Good cricket was a crusade for one of the game's kindest men" wrote the cricket correspondent, Colin Bateman, about Gover's long-standing coaching exploits.
Alf Gover was born in Epsom, Surrey in 1908. A fast right-hand bowler with a deadly outswinger and a cleverly disguised breakback, Gover began bowling at a young age and was first taken on trial by Essex in July 1926. He bowled Johnny Douglas at the nets several times and travelled with Essex as twelfth man to The Oval in 1927. A chance conversation with Herbert Strudwick, the great Surrey wicket-keeper, led Gover to changing county because he thought his prospects would be brighter with Surrey.
Gover played his first county match against Sussex in June 1928, but did not establish himself permanently until 1930. With Freddie Brown, Percy Fender and Maurice Allom available up to 1932, Gover did not play a major role, but with Brown and Allom moving into business Gover was called upon to bear a much heavier burden in the dry summer of 1933 and responded with 98 County Championship wickets. His advance was the result of curbing a tendency to overstep the crease, but his cumbersome action was still criticised even as his strong build of 188 cm (6 feet 2 inches) and 87 kg (13 stone 10 pounds), combined with vast capacity for work on the placid Oval wickets had him in contention for a Test place against such candidates as Bowes, Farnes, "Nobby" Clark and Copson.
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