About Alf Gover
Alfred Richard Gover was an English Test cricketer. He was the mainstay of the Surrey bowling attack during the 1930s and played four Tests before and after the Second World War. He also founded and ran a cricket school in Wandsworth that coached many notable players. A fast right-hand bowler with a deadly outswinger and a cleverly disguised breakback, Gover began bowling at a young age and was first taken on trial by Essex in July 1926. Gover played his first county match against Sussex in June 1928, but did not establish himself permanently until 1930. After Gover retired from first-class cricket, he played a couple of matches in 1948 for Bedfordshire in the Minor Counties competition, taking 25 wickets at just over nine runs each. He also founded and ran a cricket school in Wandsworth that coached many notable players. "Good cricket was a crusade for one of the game's kindest men" wrote the cricket correspondent, Colin Bateman, about Gover's long-standing coaching exploits.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.