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.

David Gower was bored. So bored ... Not for him Geoffrey Boycott's tedious religiosity about batting nor Graham Gooch's dour run-collecting. All three were in that Headingley side, as was the ...