David Gower, the former captain who pulled his first ball in Test cricket for a boundary in 1978, was one of England's most consistent batsmen of the 1980s. In 117 Tests, Gower piled up 8231 runs at 44.25, scoring 18 centuries. He also played 114 ODIs in which he scored 3170 runs at 30.77. As captain, he believed England should always pick the best players. The approach even worked against Australia in 1985 but was just as bad in West Indies in the winter that followed, and even more so, when Gower was Test captain in the 1989 Ashes. Since he was bored of playing county cricket, Gower retired prematurely for a career in broadcasting.