Editing David Gower (section)

===Playing style===
[[File:CampbellBothamWillisErskineGower.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Gower (far right) with fellow commentators Willis and Botham, politicians [[Alastair Campbell]] and [[James Erskine, 14th Earl of Mar|James Erskine]]]]
Gower, a left-handed batsmen, played with a dominant top hand and a "most graceful" style of batting<ref name="cricpro"/><ref name="grace">{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/394337.html|title=The myth of the elegant left-hander|last=Menon|first=Suresh|date=9 March 2009|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=3 April 2009|archive-date=6 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106053601/http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/394337.html|url-status=live}}</ref> though he had a reputation for being aloof. His languid style was often misinterpreted as indifference and a lack of seriousness, an air he bolstered with a variety of "misdemeanours" from apparently "lazy" shots, to practical jokes, even to his preference for blue (not white) socks.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wheen |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Wheen |title=The golden years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/apr/01/cricket.features |url-status=live |work=[[The Observer]] |location=London |date=1 April 2007 |access-date=1 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003104338/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/apr/01/cricket.features |archive-date=3 October 2014}}</ref> ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack|Wisden]]'' described him as "fluffy-haired, ethereal-looking" who played "beautifully, until the moment he made a mistake. Sometimes, the mistake was put off long enough for him to play an innings of unforgettable brilliance."<ref name="cricpro"/>

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 | quote =At times Gower's habit of getting out just when he ought to have been settling in may have frustrated fans and selectors, but in half-hour highlight-package terms he was worth a dozen [[Allan Border]]s and a hundred [[Geoffrey Boycott]]s.<ref name="euro"/>
 | source=''The Guardian'' on Gower.
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Gower was repeatedly lambasted by the media as being "laid back" or "nonchalant"<ref name="euro">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2004/jun/19/euro2004.sport16|title=Why David Gower is the Euro 2004 style icon|last=Pearson|first=Harry|date=19 June 2004|work=The Guardian|access-date=11 March 2009|location=London|archive-date=14 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914004311/http://www.theguardian.com/football/2004/jun/19/euro2004.sport16|url-status=live}}</ref> with a "devil-may-care" approach some found infuriating, as ''Wisden'' records, "the difference between an exquisite stroke and a nick was little more than an inch" in his style of batting.<ref name="cricpro"/> [[Peter Roebuck]] recorded that "Gower never moves, he drifts", while [[Frances Edmonds]] in the ''[[Daily Express]]'' spoke of Gower in 1985: "Difficult to be more laid back without being actually comatose."<ref>Hopps, p. 26.</ref> Gower himself commented in 1995 in an interview in ''[[The Independent]]'': "I was never destined to be on the ball 100 per cent of the time. I don't have the same ability that Graham Gooch has, to produce something very close to his best every time he plays. There were Test matches where I suddenly felt, at the end of it, 'Well, I wish I'd really been at that one.'"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/brilliant-but-fallible-swashbuckling-but-reserved-david-gower-is-the-sort-of-hero-that-sport-no-longer-admits-and-mores-the-pity-1598329.html|title=Brilliant but fallible, swashbuckling but reserved: David Gower is the sort of hero that sport no longer admits|date=28 August 1995|work=The Independent|access-date=6 April 2010|location=London|first=Giles|last=Smith|archive-date=6 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106180511/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/brilliant-but-fallible-swashbuckling-but-reserved-david-gower-is-the-sort-of-hero-that-sport-no-longer-admits-and-mores-the-pity-1598329.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gower was also a right-arm [[off break]] spin bowler despite batting left-handed, who took one Test wicket at 20.00 out of the six overs he sent down on the rare occasions when he was called upon to bowl. His domestic cricket added another three wickets to give him an overall average of 56.75;<ref name="cricpro"/> however, Martin Williamson, the managing editor of [[ESPNcricinfo]], records Gower and [[James Whitaker (cricketer)|James Whitaker]] as "probably two of the worst bowlers in the country" in 1983.<ref name="recordthat">{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/247910.html|title=The record that never was|last=Williamson|first=Martin|date=20 May 2006|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=3 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105013602/http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/247910.html|archive-date=5 January 2012}}</ref> On one occasion, during [[Steve O'Shaughnessy (cricketer)|Steve O'Shaughnessy]]'s 35-minute century for [[Lancashire County Cricket Club|Lancashire]], Gower conceded 102 for 0 from nine overs.<ref name="recordthat"/> In the 1986 Test against New Zealand at [[Trent Bridge]], Gower became the only England bowler to be called for [[Throwing (cricket)|throwing]] in a Test in England. Handed the ball by captain [[Mike Gatting]] with New Zealand requiring only one run to win, Gower deliberately threw his first ball to [[Martin Crowe]]. Technically the game ended with the no-ball call, but Crowe hit a four off the ball which was permitted to stand, leaving Gower with the unusual match bowling figures of 0-0-4-0 (1nb).<ref name="gowernb">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/tms/6317311.stm|title=Stump the Bearded Wonder No. 139|last=Frindall|first=Bill|date=31 January 2007|publisher=BBC News|access-date=18 March 2016|archive-date=27 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327000545/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/tms/6317311.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the field, Gower is noted by biographer [[Kersi Meher-Homji]] as being a "magnificent outfielder who took amazing catches and threw with accuracy and power to run out the blasé batsman." [[Ambidextrous]] in the field and when bowling, Gower also plays both golf and hockey, writes and kicks right-handed.<ref name="mh36">Meher-Homji, p. 36.</ref> However, he was far less effective as a fielder late in his career, especially in one-day matches, since a chronic shoulder injury – usually described as the shoulder being "thrown out" – meant that he usually bowled the ball in when fielding, rather than throwing it in, significantly reducing the speed of the return and allowing batsmen easy runs.<ref>Discussing fielding with Sir Ian Botham on Sky TV during the Australia-England ODI on 1 July 2012, Gower said "... in my pomp, I had a decent arm. Only when my shoulder went it was much restricted. ... The underarm in tended to be embarrassing."</ref>