Overweight Leverock’s mother to the rescue

PORT OF SPAIN: The mother of giant Bermudan spinner Dwayne Leverock has warned his World Cup rivals to stop making fun of her son's size. Police constable Leverock weighs in at a huge 255 pounds (116kg) and found himself on the front pages of international newspapers last week when he took two wickets against England in a warm-up game.

But most editors concentrated on his girth rather than his spin. The British tabloids, in particular, were merciless. Headlines such as 'Bermuda Pie-angle', 'Lard Before Wicket' and 'Owzfat' greeted his display.

“They are more focusing on his size than his achievements. I have been angry about it,” said Allison Leverock, the mother of the player nicknamed ‘Sluggo’.

“Some of them have been very cruel. They had a reference to Eddie Murphy's Nutty Professor. I don’t think that's necessary. People see his size now. They probably don't know he's worked hard to lose a lot of weight. He was over 300 pounds at one point. He knew he had to be in a better condition to compete at a better level,” Allison said.

“He doesn’t eat a lot of food — he picks. It’s in his genes. He comes from a big family, both sides.” Mrs Leverock told the Royal Gazette in Bermuda that she had a theory why her son was able to snare the highly-prized English wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood.

“I wonder if they said something to him?” she said. “He's my hero. He was anyway. Now he's everyone's hero,” she said.