ALEC BEDSER
One of England’s greatest cricketers, Sir Alec Bedser was passed away on yesterday after a short illness. This 91 years old cricketer is considered as one of the finest fast bowlers in the 20th century. He was also worked as the chairman of selectors for the ‘English national cricket team’ and the president of ‘Surrey County Cricket Club’.
BIOGRAPHY
Alec Victor Bedser was born on 4th July 1918 in Reading, Berkshire, England. He had an identical twin brother Eric Arthur Bedser, who was also a cricket player. These two brothers together started to playing tennis at the age of seven. After that, they played for ‘Monument Hill School’ and ‘Woking Cricket Club’. They made their first-class debuts for the county in 1938. When they joined the RAF to serve in World War II, their careers were interrupted in 1939. During the war-time cricket matches, Alec showed wonderful performances. He gained 6 wickets for 27 runs including a hat-trick against the West Indies and 9 for 36 including another hat-trick, against a Metropolitan Police team. He also showed his talent in ‘Surrey County Cricket Club’ where he gained over 100 wickets. Along with twin brother Eric, Bedser was an integral part of the Surrey team that won seven consecutive County Championships between 1952 and 1958. He was selected in the ‘England Test team’ in 1947 due to the performance in Suri. He gained 11 wickets each in his first two Tests against India, and he gained the nomination as a ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ for 1947. After that, he was the key figure in England’s bowling attack. In 1953, he helped England cricket team to regain the Ashes, by taking 39 wickets including his career-best match figures of 14 wickets for 99 runs in the Nottingham Test. In the 11 years spanning the cricket career, this right-arm medium-fast bowler played 51 matches and gained 236 wickets for England team. At the time of his retirement, he had taken more wickets in Test cricket than any other cricketer. After his retirement from cricket in 1960, Bedser served as a national team selector for twenty-three years and was chairman of selectors from 1969 to 1981. Alec and Eric were not married, and they lived together in Woking until Eric’s death in 2006. Now Alec’s death was also happened on 4th April, 2010 after a short illness.
