Dexter denies Gower report
NZPA-AAP London The chairman of selectors, Ted Dexter, has denied telling David Gower to step down as England cricket captain. Despite newspaper reports yesterday to the contrary, the Test and County Cricket Board (T.C.C.8.) also confirmed that Gower’s name still headed the list of candidates to lead the (northern) winter tour to the West Indies. Mr Dexter goes to Lord’s today to sit on the four-man England committee to pick the captains for the three winter tours by senior and “B” sides. Mr Dexter said he did tell Gower last week that a “change of direction” might be taken by England selectors after the 4-0 Ashes defeat by Australia. “When I saw David last Friday I thought it only right to tell him there was a strong possibility that the committee may want a change of direction,” Mr Dexter said. “That was because of a likelihood that the tour party will be different from the one we envisaged playing against Australia during the summer which contained, by and large, established test cricketers. “That was not to say David had been ruled out of contention and no final decision can be taken until the committee has met as a whole .for the first time to study all the implications. “I want to make this perfectly clear in view of the speculation appearing in the media today.” Gower is currently on a short break in Portugal. Two national newspapers quoted him from Portugal as saying: “Ted Dexter indicated they would like a change of direction. That was the exact wording, so it would be extraordinary now if they asked me to captain the side in the West Indies this winter.” Alan Smith, the chief executive of the T.C.C.8., and Ossie Wheatley, the chairman of the Cricket Committee, complete the four-man panel along with Mr Dexter and the England manager, Micky Stewart Gower's main rival for the job is Graham Gooch although it was Gooch’s past South African connections, unacceptable to India, which caused last winter’s tour of y the subcontinent can-
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19890906.2.153.4
Bibliographic details
Press, 6 September 1989, Page 33
Word Count
343Dexter denies Gower report Press, 6 September 1989, Page 33
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.