Negative but effective stuff from Alf Glover

Negative leg-side bowling is nothing new.

In 1899, Warwickshire captain Alf Glover revealed his approach to some heavy scoring by Bobby Abel and Bill Brockwell for Surrey in a championship match at The Oval. "As a last resort," admitted Glover, "I put on Willie Quaife to bowl about six inches off the leg stump, placing nearly all the fielders on the on side. The result was that neither Abel nor Brockwell would touch a ball."

Glover, who was also a driving force behind Leamington Town Football Club, was a feisty character. On one occasion when he was skippering Warwickshire he got involved in a heated exchange with a group of spectators and ended up hurling the ball at them.

Bobby Abel scored 32,669 first-class runs for Surrey and England and, even late in his career, would practice his strokes assiduously in front of a mirror.

Alf Glover was no relation to skilful Leicester City left-winger of the 1970s Len Glover.