great Sir Alec Bedser dies
FORMER England fast bowler Sir Alec Bedser has died at the age of 91.
Bedser, knighted in 1997, passed away on Sunday evening at a hospital in Woking after falling ill last month.
He took 236 wickets for England in 51 Test matches in a 10-year period before serving a record 23 years as a selector and managing two overseas tours.
Along with twin brother Eric, Bedser was an integral part of the Surrey team that won seven consecutive county championships between 1952 and 1958.
Besder remains one of England’s greatest bowlers having taken 100 or more wickets in a county season 11 times during his career.
“Alec Bedser deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest England bowlers of all time, a master of the craft of seam bowling and a true legend of the game,” said England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke.
He had been, until his death, the last man alive to have taken the wicket of Sir Donald Bradman – dismissing the legendary Australian batsman six times in Test cricket.
Bradman famously finished Test cricket with an average of 99.94 having been bowled for a duck by leg-spinner Eric Hollies in his final match against England at The Oval in 1948.

But Bedser told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview last year that, had he been bowling at the time, he would have served up a boundary ball for Bradman to dispatch for four.
“We had lost the series hopelessly already, what did it matter? It matters a lot now though, no-one else will do it [finish with a 100 average],” he said.
He excelled in Ashes series, making his highest Test score of 79 as a nightwatchman in the 1948 series, and five years later recorded his best international bowling figures of 7-44 against Australia.
In the Coronation summer of 1953, Bedser also beat Maurice Tate’s record of 39 Australian wickets in an Ashes series.
Bedser played his first Test in 1946 for England in a home series against India, having made just 12 previous first-class appearances for Surrey.
The 28-year-old immediately impressed, taking 11 wickets in a remarkable debut with his accurate medium-fast seam bowling, swiftly becoming the first Englishman to take 200 Test wickets.

He remains seventh on England’s all-time leading wicket-taker list topped by Sir Ian Botham with 383 and was inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame, along with 21 compatriots in January 2009.
Following his retirement, Bedser remained a central figure in English cricket, serving as a selector over three decades, as well as presiding as chairman between 1969 and 1981.
Alec and twin Eric, who were inseparable, continued to be familiar faces at the Oval, attending at least one day of every county match at Surrey’s home ground during an English summer.
“Our absolute and complete affinity is hard to explain,” said Alec. “But it is true and very real to us – so much so that as long as I can remember we have never been happy apart.”
Eric passed away in May 2006, but before he died the twins were often mistaken for each other by friends, colleagues and team-mates. (BBC Sport)