David Gower was bored. So bored ... them in the continuum with a player who was axed from his school's first rugby XV for "lack of effort", who earned an S level in history - in an examination ...

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The study contains plenty of objects referencing that gilded 28-year cricketing career, of course. Gower’s total of 8,231 puts him fifth in the list of highest Test runs scored by an English player.