Gower: the Autobiography

From the moment he hooked his first ball in Test cricket to the boundary, David Gower has been in a class of his own when it comes to style and panache. In 114 Test matches, he scored over 8000 runs at an average of 44 which ranks him with the post-war greats. His elegant play is always a joy to watch and certainly there hasn't been a better and more entertaining left-hander since Sir Garfield Sobers. Yet because of his natural gifts, he has often attracted criticism for his "laid back" approach and "lack of application". In the book, Gower answers these charges and sets out his side of the story about his two spells of captaincy for both club and country. He puts his man-management record on the line alongside those of fellow captains Mike Brearley, Bob Willis, Mike Gatting and Graham Gooch, and attacks the current mentality of Test selectors "where runs around the block seem to count for more than runs in the middle". There are also many light-hearted moments in the book: visiting casinos and nightclubs in the company of fellow "rogues" Ian Botham and Allan Lamb, dumping a hired car at the bottom of a lake in St Moritz, and "buzzing" Robin Smith from a Tiger Moth while he was batting on the 1991/92 Australian tour.