'A somewhat lumbering carriage' – the corpulent cricket crew

When he wasn't playing cricket WG Grace liked to ride horses, but he had to stop because he kept breaking them. True story. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, writing an obituary of the portly great, described his "huge frame, swarthy features, bushy beard, and somewhat lumbering carriage". Nobody knows what a carriage has to look like in order for it to be genuinely lumbering. Photograph: PA NEWS/PA NEWS

Colin Milburn, AKA the Burnopfield Basher, was also called Ollie after the rotund one from Laurel and Hardy. His first mention in Wisden came in 1960 when the then-19-year-old was euphamistically called "a well-built lad". He went on to play nine Tests for England before a car accident wrecked his eyesight and his career. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Bob Thomas Sports Photography

"I love having a beer. I love it. A beer and a cigarette," said Australia's Darren Lehmann. Didn't stop him from retiring with a first-class average of 57.83. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

David Boon famously consumed 52 beers on the flight from Australia to England in 1989, earning himself the nickname "The keg on legs" and a lucrative endorsement contract from VB beer. Photograph: Getty Images/Getty Images

Bermuda's Dwayne Leverock was an unusual star at the 2007 World Cup. "I don't get upset about my size," he said. "It's what the Lord gave me and I just use it to my advantage." Another thing he used to his advantage was the Indian takeaway below his flat. Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images

Nicknamed Beefy, Botham now co-owns an Australian winery with Bob Willis. "We certainly don’t shirk our tasting responsibilities," he says. Photograph: David Munden/Popperfoto/Popperfoto

"Fat Gat" never went on tour without his own supply of Branston Pickle. Asked once if there was anything he disliked about the popular cheese-pairing condiment, Gatting said: "Yeah, they don't make the jars big enough." Photograph: Adrian Murrell/Getty Images

After training with the England team in 2009, Samit Patel was described by Kevin Pietersen as "unfit, fat and lazy". "It's just my body shape," Patel protested, adding: "I also sweat a bit." Photograph: Tom Shaw/Getty Images

"I'm never going to look like an athlete," said Robert Key. He was, however, going to look like John Belushi in The Blues Brothers. Photograph: Jed Leicester/Getty Images

"I would say I was a lazy cricketer in that I would do as little as possible and get off the ground and go and have a sit-down," says Ian Blackwell. Which explains something. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Shane Warne bowls. "My diet is pizzas, chips, toasted cheese sandwiches and milkshakes," he once said. "I have the occasional six-week burst where I stick to fruit and cereal. It bloody kills me but I guess you have to do it." Note his tongue hanging out, presumably because he's thinking of cake. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/Guardian