In my experience, cricket and Valentine's Day rarely mix. Most women will fall asleep at the very mention of the sport so don't even think of bowling a maiden over. Of course, there's plenty to drool over, from a languid Gower cover drive and a Sangakkara cut to a Steyn inswinging yorker. However, right now there's little romance in the Indian courts or the ECB offices. So let's go back in time when the world of cricket was blessed with Valentine, Love and a fine pair of Somerset Roses.
Alf Valentine was one of the famous pair of West Indian spinners who bamboozled Hutton, Washbrook, Bailey, Compton et al in 1950. That summer, he and Sonny Ramadhin sent down well over 2,000 overs, each claiming more than 120 wickets. Valentine was the more orthodox left-arm spinner and he went on to play 36 Tests over 13 years, taking 139 wickets. The romance of the spinners in that era of Caribbean 'calypso cricket' led to Alf giving his name to February 14th, the day of lovers. Evidently he was chosen as Ramadhin sounded too close to the Muslim fasting period. No? Not true? Well, it should be!
In more recent times, Jim and Martin Love carved out batting careers with differing levels of success. Queenslander Martin, like many others of his generation, missed out on a shedload of caps because of Australia's embarrassment of riches. His first Test was in an Ashes success and his fifth and last featured an unbeaten century against Bangladesh the following year. He compiled more than 16,000 first-class runs, and made an unbeaten 109 in his final innings almost four years ago.
Jim Love was more a product of the 1970s and '80s, and one of a breed of proud Yorkshiremen who plied their trade at a time when the county was focussed more on in-fighting than winning championships. Nevertheless his one-day exploits earned him an England call-up in the famous Ashes summer of 1981, but three games in five days was the sum total of the Leeds man's international career. He won a Gold Award for his role in winning the 1987 B&H Cup for Yorkshire but stepped down to Minor Counties cricket just two seasons later. He's now a regional manager at the Cricket Foundation doing his bit to boost cricket amongst youngsters, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and all power to his elbow.
Finally a pair of Roses to round off the day. Neither white, nor red, Brian and Graham each made their name playing for Somerset. Opening batsman Brian led that famous side with Botham, Viv Richards and Joel Garner to the county's first ever trophy. He wasn't exactly a run machine but his calm authority and intelligent strokeplay brought him nine Tests and two ODIs spread over four years, including overseas tours. He later became Somerset's director of cricket, overseeing the club's resurgence as a major force in all formats while promoting youth. The romance would have been complete had the Cidermen finally won that elusive Championship pennant but it was not to be.
Graham Rose was a rarity in English cricket: a genuine all-rounder whose batting average was higher than his bowling figure, always a sign of class. Most of his career was based in Tanuton but, despite accumulating almost 14,000 runs and more than 900 wickets in all competitions, he never won an England call-up. I suspect that had he been born twenty years later, he would have been very much in the frame in ODIs and Twenty20. In 1990, he set a world record for the fastest List A hundred - in 36 balls - albeit against Devon, and his medium-pacers brought him plenty of wickets in the late '90s. Like his unrelated predecessor Brian, GD was a great servant for Somerset.
So there you have it: five cricketers who may not have been enduring megastars but who each contributed a great deal to their teams and left sporting legacies as well as their romantic names. Happy Valentine's Day!
