Surrey mourn club stalwart Bedser

Bedser (left) and his brother both served Surrey with distinction

Surrey are mourning the death of Eric Bedser, twin brother of former England seam bowler Alec, at the age of 87.

Although not as celebrated as his brother, Bedser still played 457 games for the club, scoring more than 14,000 runs and taking over 800 wickets.

He played in the side which won the Championship seven times in the 1950s and served as club president in 1990.

"His memory will live on as one of Surrey's cricketing legends," said a statement on the club's website.

Bedser took up off-spin after he and brother decided there would not be room for both of them bowling medium pace in the Surrey team.

For much of his career, however, he had to compete for a place in the Surrey side with Jim Laker and Tony Lock, who both played Test cricket for England.

Despite that, Bedser completed the 1,000 run and 50 wicket seasonal double on four occasions.

In an interview for the BBC website in 2001, he said: "My greatest moment was getting on the playing staff at the Oval when I was 18 - I just loved playing."