Left-field tales far from the norm

BOOK REVIEW: GREAT SPORTING ECCENTRICS by GEOFF TIBBALLS

They come in all shapes and sizes, and from all directions; off the wall, out of the left field, out of the blue. Their unpredictability, their sense of logic, their idea of what is the norm set them apart, and up for mockery. And the amazing thing is they have no idea that they are in any way different. They are The Eccentrics.

And finally, in this age of databases and lists someone - Geoff Tibballs to be precise - has decided that sport deserves a closer look. The work that Mr Tibballs has put into Great Sporting Eccentrics (Robson Books, pounds 8.99) is impressive.

If anyone has been left out it is probably because there are plans for a sequel. The price is certainly modest enough to warrant one. If a criticism can be levelled at the book it is that not everyone cited in it is actually guilty of eccentric behaviour; petulance, certainly - as in the case of the Brazilian football club Itaperuna's coach. Paulo Mata was so angry when a referee allowed a late goal against his team and sent off three of his players that he ran on the pitch, stripped off his shirt and, while struggling in the grasp of some policemen, managed to drop his trousers in front of the attendant television cameras.

And what about EM Grace, brother of WG. If ever there was a case of Mr and Mrs Brat having produced a son called "Spoiled" it had to be Edward Mills Grace. He was once on the wrong end of a borderline lbw decision. So incensed was the coroner that he marched off with his bat... and the stumps.

For eccentric behaviour you would have to turn to WG, who once declared an innings with his own score on 93. He later explained that 93 was the only score between nought and 100 that he had never made.

Horse racing has had its share of characters. William Henry Cavendish- Bentinck, fourth Duke of Portland, used to try to make sure his horses were prepared for any eventuality by setting off fireworks in the stables, or getting them to gallop past his estate workers as they waved flags and shouted.

But the fifth Duke capped that by having a complex of underground rooms built at Welbeck, the family seat, because he was petrified of daylight and of meeting people.

There have been oddballs in tennis as well. One of the strangest serves was that executed by the current British No 1 Tim Henman's great-grandmother, Ellen Stawell-Brown, the first woman to serve overarm at Wimbledon. Henman explains: "She used to throw the ball really high, spin round once, then hit it as it came down."

Bill Struth, who managed Rangers in the 1920s, used to keep half a dozen double-breasted suits in his office and would often change two or three times a day. The supporters of Pegasus, the successful amateur team of the 1950s drawn from Oxbridge undergraduates, used to wear mortar boards and gowns and, instead of the usual terrace chants, used to recite poetry.

There are a host of other examples, players' superstitions pre-match and pre-tournament; their foibles, their whims of wardrobe. There are the mad, bad and even the potentially dangerous, the best example of which has to be KG Gandar Dower's idea. He decided that cheetah racing would be more entertaining than watching greyhounds tear around a track. In 1937, he imported eight cats and staged some races at Romford and Haringey. Unfortunately, the cheetahs were not competitive enough and showed no interest in pursuing the hare.

DAVID LLEWELLYN