Foreword
by Rt. Hon. John Major, CH, MP
In all cricket history there has been no partnership to rival that of Alec and Eric Bedser. To know one is to know the other, for they are as identical in mind as they are in form. Often at The Oval or Lord’s I have sat with them to hear one express a view about, say, field-placing or a batsman’s technique and a few moments later – without any possibility of consultation – to hear the other express a similar sentiment. It was the view of two seasoned professionals with an identical eye.
They have spent a lifetime in cricket. Alec is one of our greatest bowlers: in the line of Sydney Barnes and Maurice Tate came Alec Bedser with, as yet, no successor. For years Alec was the England pace attack, toiling so often against the great Australian sides led by Don Bradman and Lindsay Hassett. He bowled hour upon hour, an indefatigable giant, naggingly accurate, inventive and stately as a galleon as he ran up to the wicket. No heart for England was ever stronger or more willing – and few more cunning, for this thinking bowler introduced the leg-cutter to cricket history.
Eric was ever at his side and he was a fine cricketer, too, with both bat and ball. In most decades Eric would have bowled his off-spin for England but fate put Jim Laker, perhaps the greatest of them all, on the pitch at the same time and in the same Surrey team. Even so, Eric played in a Test trial in 1950, only to find the gods frowning on his fortune in that game as Laker took eight wickets for two runs. I can see Eric now, as a batsman, his bulk crouched at the crease, his bat seemingly a toy in his massive hands but one used often enough to good effect for his team.
This book is more than a cricketing biography: it is a unique story of two very special people with values and opinions that do not change with the fashions of the day. They have also a touching love of their country that is as endearing as it is refreshing. England first, always – for Alec and Eric could only be English – but Australia, too, is a great love in their lives. From humble origins through national celebrity to their status today as grand old men of cricket, their story is told by Alan Hill with the affection and insight that was evident in his earlier biographies of their friends and team-mates, Peter May and Jim Laker.
On and off the field, this is a tale worth telling.