David Gower

@CricketOGs @BabajiSutar3 I guess that’s “shots”?

@BabajiSutar3 @David215Gower Clean shorts. Elegance

Pure elegance and class at the crease, David Gower Sir made batting look like poetry in motion. @David215Gower

@swildecricket Well deserved. Congratulations to the other writer in my village. I look forward to seeing my copy dropped at the door. Could offer champagne as a reward!!

Absolutely thrilled and honoured to pick up this award in the Long Room at Lord's last night

@goel_prabal @DarrenMordecai @YouTube I’ve been back to India several times since including Sky commentary way back but the rules of the game are simple - if one is not invited one goes elsewhere or stays at home.

@DarrenMordecai @David215Gower @YouTube David Gower did not really visit India for a commentary stint after this series. Would have loved to see him commentate on IPL- his distinctive, laid back style would have been a wonderful contrast to the frenetic pace of IPL.

DAVID GOWER RECALLS HIS ONE TEST WICKET - @David215Gower youtu.be/s04ufxgYLas?si… via @YouTube

@ChrisRGollop @huwzat @WG_RumblePants @AnnieChave Yes, book is happily done, as is my broadcast for the summer. Dropped in at the Oval last week and much enjoyed a couple of hours on the BBC “wireless” as a random guest.

@David215Gower Hoping the book now read and enjoyed DG. Are you able to share any broadcasting commitments for this summer? We could all do with a glorious summer after such a torrid d’hiver and to hear the old dulcets would be most welcome. Here’s hoping! @huwzat @WG_RumblePants @AnnieChave

Also on my reading list is this. William Boyd one of my favourite authors.

@Litstable I’d love to think she would never give me out……

@hiloyocr The second autobio (An Endangered Species) was even better. IMO. Good news is that the Tiger Moth story has repaid its fine many times over through after dinner speeches. Glad to hear you enjoyed the read.

@David215Gower such an entertaining and well written autobiography. That 1k fine for tiger moth incident was too harsh.

@UNKLEPaulTHX @StickToCricket Usually!

@David215Gower @StickToCricket Could you finish the crossword?

“He said set your own field!” 😂 When Aggers played under David Gower.

@CaughtAtPoint The orange juice wasn’t fresh.

Any story behind this picture? @David215Gower #Throwback #Cricket #Ashes #CountyChamp

@durbs75 @Patrick00653216 @StickToCricket We both look good in white….

@Patrick00653216 @StickToCricket He’s @David215Gower not the Pope! Although come to think of it, I’ve never seen them in the same place together.. 🤨

Some huge praise for David Gower on the latest Stick to Cricket with Aggers. 👏

@Patrick00653216 @StickToCricket Who is?

@StickToCricket he got out playing balls going away from him. Not infallible.

@ashestoarchive Happy with that!!

Wishing former England captain @David215Gower a very happy birthday 🥳🎂Here he takes a blinder to dismiss Mark McPhee during the PM's XI game in Canberra during the summer of 1990/91😲😲

@aviashea @TheMiddleStump @graynics Better distribution of weight leading to a larger (longer) sweet spot.

@TheMiddleStump @graynics @David215Gower What was the purpose behind the scoop/s ?

Talking of bats. The @graynics four scoop as used by @David215Gower in 1978 was the one I loved. The single scoop was still popular in club cricket in the 80s as was the twin scoop but the four scoop was a thing of beauty. Shame I never timed it like Gower.

@LessGrumpy @TheMiddleStump @graynics It was a theory from metallurgy. Sadly with wood all that tended to happen was that the wood split from hole to hole!

@TheMiddleStump @graynics @David215Gower In the late 1970s the captain of our school first XI had one of these. A Duncan Fearnley run reaper. Holes drilled in the back to reduce the weight

@bigbonedtrev @TheMiddleStump @graynics Shame. Mine worked beautifully.

@TheMiddleStump @graynics @David215Gower I had a 4 scoop. Turned out to be dead as a Dodo! Which was a shame as the single scoop was brilliant. I didn't buy another GN for 20 years.

@ManzooreNazar @thePSLt20 @bazidkhan81 Sadly not but I wish them all a fabulous time.

@thePSLt20 @bazidkhan81 No David Gover @David215Gower

Introducing the star-studded Commentary Panel for HBL PSL 11. From the first ball to the grand final, the voices of the game are set. Get ready for expert analysis and unmatched star energy behind the mic. ✨🏏 Read more: pcb.com.pk/press-release-… #HBLPSL11 | #NewEra

@nimishdubey It was an extraordinary tour, beginning on day 1 with the assassination of Indira Gandhi. The tour might have been abandoned when Percy Norris was also killed. That we stayed and won was extremely satisfying. One of my proudest times.

For those of us in India who followed cricket in the 1980s, the defeat against England at home in 1984-85 was particularly traumatising. This was because it was, well, it was simply not SUPPOSED to happen. How could it? England had lost three series in a row, the last being a 5-0 "Blackwash" against West Indies, and had been pushed even by Sri Lanka in a one-off Test. Its best player, Ian Botham, was skipping the tour, and among the rest of its line up, only Gower and Lamb were considered dangerous. The bowling was paper thin, with the likes of Cowans, Foster, Allot, Agnew, Ellison and Chris Cowdrey. Phil Edmonds and Pat Pocock were good spinners, but were supposed to be well past their best. Bob Willis had retired and Graham Gooch, Peter Willey, John Lever, John Emburey and Wayne Larkins were serving bans for touring South Africa. India on the other hand had arguably the best batsman in the world, Sunil Gavaskar, and one of the best bowlers and all rounders in Kapil Dev. Mohinder Amarnath was back in form, Dilip Vengsakar was looking good and so was Sandeep Patil. Add to that one of the best young all rounders in the world (Ravi Shastri) and the best wicket keeper in the world (Syed Kirmani), home conditions and England's legendary inability to handle spin, and it seemed India would coast to an easy win. I mean, India had beaten a much stronger, full strength England team 1-0 three years ago. And for a while, it seemed to go to script. England struggled against the spin of Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (and the umpiring, they claimed) and lost the first Test. David Gower would later wrote that they came across a bowler they had never seen before and an umpire they never wanted to see again. England seemed set for another hammering. So much so that some spectators were seen carrying banners saying "Brownwash" as the first Test was coming to an end. And then it all went horribly wrong. A single session of careless batting, highlighted by loose shots by Kapil Dev and Sandeep Patil, cost India the second Test. And things got worse when both Patil and Kapil Dev were dropped for disciplinary reasons. The deicison generated a lot of controversy and we saw the crowd at Kolkota booing and abusing their own captain so badly that Gavaskar swore he would never play in the city again (he actually refused to play against Pakistan in 1986-87 for that reason, although he changed his mind for the World Cup). Mohinder Amarnath and Shastri continued to bat well for India, although Shastri's insistence on batting at a snail's pace led to the first chants of "Shastri, hai, hai" at Kolkota. This was the match in which Phil Edmonds pretended to be so bored that he stood and read a newspaper while fielding. Azharuddin emerged as a new batting star. But as a team, there was absolutely nothing going for India. Sivramakrishnan took six wickets in each of the first three innings of the series, but got only five more in the next six innings as England seemed to have woked him out. Most shockingly, this was perhaps the first (and only) seiries in which both Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev failed. Kapil got 10 wickets in four Tests at 43.60 while Gavaskar got 140 runs in five Tests at 17.50. What's worse, for most of the series, the two seemed barely on talking terms, although some sort of patch up did occur before the series ended. India hardly ever had a good batting or bowling start in the series, and the English batsmen made merry. Oddly enough, the two English batsmen we had feared the most, Lamb and Gower, had mediocre series. Gatting, Robinson, Fowler, however, scored by the sackful. Their bowlers too struggled most of the time, but had the advantage of playing with big scores behind them - a key factor in their winning at Chennai. It was not a narrow win - India never had a chance after losing the first Test and seemed miles behing an English team that seemed to be enjoying itself under David Gower. Interestingly, many of the English players who did so well, would be out of the team barely a few years later. For India too, many careers came to an end - Anshuman Gaekwad, Ashok Malhotra and Sandeep Patil never played for India again, and Yashpal Sharma was never even considered after a poor ODI series. In the end, India lost a series it was supposed to have won easily against arguably the weakest English ever to tour the country. Many of us still cannot figure out how on earth it happened. It shouldn't have. It couldn't have. It did. #Cricket #80scricket #Gavaskar #KapilDev #Gower #IndianCricket #EnglandCricket #Nostalgia (@Raja_Sw, @SanjayK27310177, @alawyerwrites, @WG_RumblePants, @VatsMusings, @anandkumarn)

@durbs75 @WG_RumblePants Aaaarghh! I could easily have used another word! Thanks for the mention though.

@WG_RumblePants Tv you mean? I would pick @David215Gower As smooth behind the mic as he was at the crease. That is until someone puts a chair on his foot. 😂

I know many people miss the sound of Richie’s voice on commentary. He’s probably still widely regarded as the best tv cricket commentator. But, if Richie remains at #1, who would you put at #2? I’m genuinely interested to see who people pick. Radio commentators need not apply!

@MrSimonOsborne @fredfertang @BeefyBotham Undeniable, sadly, but in varying degrees, may I say. Mrs G starting to witter on subject of fat jabs.

@fredfertang @David215Gower @BeefyBotham Their moist lips wouldn’t be so close today due to their expanding waistlines.

The 1989 Ashes were, to say the least, something of a disappointment for England, but despite that @David215Gower and @BeefyBotham managed to steal a bromantic moment

@ChrisRGollop @fredfertang @BeefyBotham Summer deleted from memory!

@fredfertang @David215Gower @BeefyBotham That was a very painful summer, started with great celebrations and optimism as Lord Gower returned to his rightful position as Captain and then it was all downhill after that. Must have set an England record for sick notes!