There is a lot more to Dwayne “Sluggo” Leverock than meets the eye. At first glance, the 19st left-arm spinner elicits quizzical stares and gaping jaws, especially in the modern age of fitness coaches and nutritionists, but an appreciation for the 35-year-old is developed the instant he bowls his first ball.

The big man gives it a good rip, as Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen discovered yesterday, and lacks nothing for effort in the field. But concerns about his weight, which has fluctuated between 18st and 22st over the past ten years, played a significant role in hindering his opportunities.

Ultimately, the Bermuda selectors accepted that he was the best slow bowler they had, and now he is one of the first names on the teamsheet.

I first came across Leverock as a reed-thin 15-year-old, who had promise as a cricketer but was more interested in following his father as a prolific goalscorer until knee injuries brought a premature end to his aspirations in top-flight football in Bermuda. It was then that he paid full attention to cricket, but within two years of joining the Bermuda Police Force he had gained a prodigious amount of weight.

Leverock’s obvious handicap was not helped by an asthmatic condition, but he overcame the odds to do well at domestic level before gaining Bermuda recognition.

A crowd favourite, for his indefatigable spirit if not for the wild celebrations after taking a wicket, Leverock is all-action, relatively speaking. A rocking bowling action, exaggerated follow-through and long stare at the opposition batsman before adjusting his trousers is his trademark.

He got me out once, too, which should be of some consolation to Collingwood and Pietersen. I recovered, and I suspect they will, too.

— Dexter Smith, a sports sub-editor with The Times, is a former Bermuda opening batsman

Huge talents

Four heavyweight cricketers

— W. G. Grace The most famous fat cricketer was an athletic youth but ballooned in old age. His weight of runs and wickets was more impressive than his girth

— Warwick Armstrong A thirst for whisky helped the Australia all-rounder to weigh in at 22st when made captain in 1920

— Inzamam-ul-Haq The Pakistan batsman once flew into a rage at a spectator who called him “a fat potato”. He lost 2½st before the 2003 World Cup, made only 19 runs and vowed never to diet again

—-Arjuna Ranatunga In a “pot meet kettle” moment, the hardly slender Shane Warne once said that Ranatunga, the Sri Lanka captain, looked as if he had swallowed a sheep