Mike Gatting | England Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo 1975 - 1998 Profile For two decades, it was a sight as characteristic of Lord's as Father Time himself: Mike Gatting, with jutting beard and strutting gait, biffing the ball past extra cover for Middlesex or England. If a spinner was bowling, he probably wouldn't be on long: "Gatt" murdered spinners. Squat and tubby, he never looked a sportsmen from a distance, though at close quarters his oak-tree forearms gave a clue. He was a natural, a point recognised by the selectors when they sent him on tour as a 20-year-old, in 1977-78. But it would take seven more years, and 54 Test innings, before he made a hundred. In the meantime, he batted every position except first violin. Finally, he reached maturity with 136 in adversity at Bombay, an innings of such guts that the British press broke its rule and applauded. Then there was no stopping him. His captaincy - the job came a year later - had a bristling quality, like his batting.

But the triumph of the surprise Ashes win in 1986-87 was followed later that year by his argument with the Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana - routine in most sports, shocking in cricket - which reverberated round the world. Gatting's bristling had got the better of him. It took six months for Gatting to be sacked, and then it was ostensibly (and ludicrously) because of an alleged sexual encounter with a barmaid. The selectors wanted him back in 1989 but their choice was vetoed; Gatting, in pique and sadness, took a rebel team to South Africa instead and the captaincy never came back to him. He had a sense of fair play and not much subtlety; he suffered for being a straightforward man in a game run by dissemblers.

Matthew Engel Video: Inspirational sports stories: Mike Gatting - Telegraph Inspirational sports stories The teacher who let Mike Gatting play Former England cricket captain and Middlesex star Mike Gatting tells Simon Hughes who inspired his rise to the top By Simon Hughes 2:55PM BST 06 Jun 2014 Read more inspirational stories from top sports people The experience of a young Mike Gatting illustrates the importance of women’s cricket to the game’s future. Spending time at the Hanley Pages sports club in Neasden where his father was the bar steward, Mike and brother Steve tried sports including football, cricket, tennis, bowls and even sailing. Football dominated until the intervention of a female teacher at Wykeham Primary School. “She was Sri Lankan,” says Gatting, “and one day in PE she said, ‘Let’s play cricket!’ And after that we did so regularly in PE. We even got a side together in my last two years at primary school, and it was in one of those games that I got my first century.” The majority of primary school teachers are women. If more play (or watch) cricket and encourage their classes to have a go, more talented kids might be persuaded to persevere with the game.

We even got a side together in my last two years at primary school, and it was in one of those games that I got my first century Gatting adds: “I was a decent footballer but became more interested in cricket and used to watch England Tests on TV. I particularly liked Basil D’Oliveira – a very solid batsman who took wickets with his medium pace as well – and I loved watching John Snow bowl.” Gatting joined Brondesbury Cricket Club and formed a close relationship with the legendary coach Ted Jackson, but Middlesex and England have another PE teacher to thank for his emergence. “We didn’t play cricket at my secondary school but our PE teacher [John Kelly] knew I had joined a club and sent me for London Schools trials.” In his mid teens he entered the county youth system and, despite playing in goal for Watford Reserves as a 16 year-old, cricket gradually took over, while his brother Steve followed the football route, ending up at Arsenal. Gatting worked his way through the Middlesex ranks, and though batting was his strong suit, he loved bowling.

“I went to Wrigley Foundation coaching sessions at Lord’s as a kid and the Pakistan swing bowler Khan Mohammad showed me how to polish the ball and swing it.” He can boast 158 first-class wickets in addition to 36,000 first-class runs. A superb player of spin, he struggled against slow bowling in his early days and credits Middlesex coach Don Bennett for his improvement. “Don bowled off-spin to me in the indoor nets virtually all winter in 1976 and that was where I developed my ability against spin.” Bennett, who played or coached for Middlesex for more than 50 years, is part of my abiding memory of Gatting, with whom I played at Middlesex for 12 years. Gatting incessantly battered balls fed by Bennett back past him into the back netting on the Nursery ground, and then did the same to bowlers in the middle, each boundary accompanied by a triumphant little cough, before demolishing a plate of lamb cutlets and spotted dick and custard in the players’ dining room. He had an insatiable appetite in every sense.

Meet a sporting hero Mike Gatting: The defining moments Mike Gatting: The defining moments Mike Gatting: The defining moments Published: 24 April 2014 MCC President Mike Gatting in the Club's Committee Room MCC President and England legend Mike Gatting takes Lords.org through the moments and matches that mattered. The Schoolboy ton 102 - Wykeham Primary School v Stonebridge Park, Neasden Rec, 1967 I remember making my first hundred when I was 10 or 11. They gave me the scorebook. It was quite a big thing at the school, with photos and a bit of a fuss made. That was the first major innings I played and my first big achievement. A mixed start 0 - Middlesex 2nd XI v Kent 2nd XI, One-Day Match, Ealing CC, 1972 My second-team debut. A load of the Middlesex top brass had come to see me play, this young 15-year-old lad who was being talked about, and I got out first ball, caught behind off John Shepherd. I hid for the rest of the day!

But on the August Bank Holiday they were short again and I got the call to go and play at Hove – the coach gave me five pounds for the train but I got off at the wrong station and had to walk all the way from Brighton station to the ground. When I got there they were already about seven down, and I was told I was in next. I went in and got 50 and did quite well. The County debut 10 - Middlesex v Worcestershire, County Championship, Lord’s, 1975 In my first two matches I got starts then got myself out. It was my first taste of first-team cricket, Mike Brearley was captain. Worcestershire had the West Indian fast bowler Vanburn Holder, and it was the first time I had faced anyone of that pace. Gatting in full flow for Middlesex The first hundred 128 - West Indies Young Cricketers v England Young Cricketers, One-Day Match, Point-a-Pierre, 1976 My first major professional hundred. It had taken me a year.

A lot of young county players were picked to go on an under 19 tour to the West Indies, including David Gower, Bill Athey, Ian Gould and Paul Allott. That tour was the first we saw of Malcolm Marshall, who was seriously quick even then. Headingley '81 15 & 1, two catches - England v Australia, Third Test, Headingley, 1981 It was my first full series. People remember the dive at mid-on to get Lillee but I caught what I thought was a better one at short-leg to get Graham Yallop. It was amazing to be part of that game and something I’ll never forget. The celebrations weren’t as long as we’d have liked because we had to leave that evening to go and play in the County Championship the following day. Botham sent the dressing room attendant in to the Aussies to get their champagne and they returned him horizontally through the door with a four-letter word. That was typical Beefy. The County captain DNB - Middlesex v Essex, County Championship, Lord’s, 1983 It was great walking out at Lord’s for the first time as captain.

Brears [Mike Brearley] retired and they were going to offer it to John Emburey, but he went on a rebel tour to South Africa so then they offered it to me. I thought: ‘Wow.’ Following Brears was a big task, but John was great and I had a lot of help from the guys (although I had the odd disagreement with Phil Edmonds). We still had a very good team, and we were able to deal with the older generation moving on. It was great for me to bring through players like Mark Ramprakash, Phil Tufnell and Angus Fraser. A Test ton at last 136 - India v England, First Test, Mumbai, 1984 We were struggling from the first innings and I dug in and got some runs in the second dig. It was such a relief to get there and see the whole press box on their feet applauding, which was quite unusual then. It was quite something. I wouldn’t have even been on the tour if it hadn’t been for David Gower.

I’d done very well in county cricket and was known as one of the better players of spin on the circuit, so David said: "I want him in, and not only that, I want him as vice-captain." I owed it to him because up until then I hadn’t quite done it in Test cricket. Doing the double 207 - India v England, Fourth Test, Chennai, 1985 It was the first time two England players had scored double hundreds in the same innings: me and Graeme Fowler. Graeme was really tired at the end of the day and there was a long single on for the first ball of the last over, which would have got me off strike. I said: "No, don’t worry Foxy, you’re tired, I’ll take this." And I batted it out – he was amazed a professional cricketer would turn down the chance to get up the other end during the last over of the day, but he was so tired and was really grateful. We carried on the next morning – he got to 200 and then I went past him.

England captaincy calling 0 & 40 - England v India, First Test, Lord’s, 1986 David Gower was under pressure as captain and we lost the first Test at Lord’s. Peter May, the chairman of selectors, grabbed me as we came off , took me aside and said: "We want you to be captain of England. Do you want it?" I said: "When do I have to say yes? Have you told David yet?" He said: "There’s no point telling him if you say no." "How long have I got?" I asked. "About three minutes." Of course I said yes, you can’t turn it down. Dominating Down Under 7 - Australia v England, Second Final, World Series Cup, Sydney, 1987 Winning the Ashes as captain was amazing, but after the Tests we also won the World Series Cup, which no other England team had done. We won the first final match at Melbourne and then went to Sydney, scored 187 and won the series – with only a couple of players out of the XI able to throw as everyone was bandaged up after a long tour.

If we’d gone to the third match decider we would have had to field the physio, the manager, the scorer – no one would have been fit – so it was great we won at Sydney. The whole tour was a great team effort; everyone contributed. I remember finally sitting back at the end of that match having won all the competitions and thinking: "It doesn’t get much better than that." This article first appeared in All Out Cricket magazine. Mike Gatting was talking to All Out Cricket's Ed Kemp. All Out Cricket is a monthly magazine, available in print and digital. Click here for the latest subscription deal. Share this page Mike Gatting: The most eventful of careers - Cricket Country › Mike Gatting: The most eventful of careers Mike Gatting remains one of the most recognisable and popular personalities at Lord’s who had one of the most eventful of career. | Updated : May 16, 2016 10:38 AM IST Mike Gatting – still one of the most popular figures in cricket © Getty Images Mike Gatting , former England captain and erstwhile President of MCC, had one of the most interesting and eventful careers.

From leading England to Ashes triumph to sitting on the precipice of a diplomatic crisis, from cooking steakes for customers in a South African restaurant to facing the supposed ball of the century, he has done it all. He remains one of the most recognisable and popular personalities at Lord’s. Arunabha Sengupta caught up with the legend at the Mecca of cricket during the Middlesex-Nottinghamshire match. CricketCountry (CC): You got your first Test hundred during the 1984-85 tour at the Wankhede Stadium. It should be considered as one of the best ever innings against quality spin. It came against Laxman Sivaramakrishnan at his best. Mike Gatting (MG): It was very important from the point of view of the match. It was a turning wicket, and we had Ravi Shastri playing, we had Shivlal Yadav. And of course we had Siva. Siva bowled really well, he had already got (six) in the first innings. Sadly, down the line, he could not quite handle the fame. It’s a shame, he was such a good bowler.

There was certainly one bat-pad catch during the innings when I came down the wicket and felt I had definitely got a nick. But surprisingly nobody appealed. That was very strange. CC: The first hundred took its time in coming, did it not? It took you 31 Tests. MG: Well, it was a relief to me because I had had to wait for such a long time. When I had got on the bus that morning from the hotel, I had heard someone saying to me that I was going to get a hundred. I had looked around and seen no one. I was not quite sure what that was, and I was actually very, very worried. It was an interesting experience. Sadly, we lost the Test match … I got out, caught at long-off. And then we sort of fell away. CC: But you won the series… MG: Yes, we won at Delhi. At Calcutta the crowd got really upset with Sunil Gavaskar because he would not declare. And then we won again at Madras. So, it was a very good series for us. The Madras Test was particularly pleasing.

The plan to beat India was to bowl them out, get 600 and bowl them out again. And that’s exactly what we did. CC: You got a double-hundred as well in that Madras Test… MG: Yes, with Graeme Fowler. It was rare, two double hundreds in the same Test innings. That was the first time anyone had done that for England, which is strange given all the great players who have played the game (Fowler and Gatting became the first pair of Englishmen to score double-hundreds in the same Test innings. The feat had been achieved for the first time by Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford at The Oval in 1934). Azhar got his second hundred in the Test as well, playing awfully well for a young lad. CC: So it was a very memorable tour. MG: It was a very special tour. Especially when you think of all the sad things that happened. Indira Gandhi was assassinated. We had reached late, at around three o’clock in the morning. I came down at around nine o’clock in the morning, got out of the lift and heard people talking about it.

And I said, “That cannot have happened.” There was a thirteen-day mourning period, and so we went down to Sri Lanka for preparation, and then it did not seem to stop raining. After that, one day we were just about to go for practice when all of a sudden there was a huge explosion in the naval yard. It was just about half a mile from our hotel. The Tamil Tigers had blown up half the yard. We came back to Bombay, and went to meet the Deputy Commissioner (Percy Norris) who was retiring in three months. The following morning our practice was delayed. We asked, “Why’s that?” They said that the bloke you went to visit the last evening has been assassinated. There were thoughts about returning home. They had assassinated Indira Gandhi, they had assassinated the British Deputy High Commissioner. What about the cricketers? It would make a great international ripple. There was a bit of talk about leaving. In the end we decided to knuckle down and carry on, and I am glad that we did. CC: But that was not your first tour of India. You had been there earlier, in 1981. MG: Yes, that was the most boring Test series ever.

India won the first Test and then there were five Tests on the flattest, dullest wickets ever prepared. CC: The next time you visited India, you played the reverse-sweep in Calcutta. MG: Yes, during the World Cup final. Well, I played a lot of reverse-sweeps in the semi-final against India and got a decent score. It’s like any other shot. You get out to it, it’s a bad shot. So I was not necessarily that worried about it. CC: You were wonderful against the spinners, but also had a tough time against the West Indian pace bowlers. But, one thing few remember that between 1985-87, you were one of the best batsmen of the world. (From the 1984-85season to the end of the 1987 summer, only Dilip Vengsarkar had a better record than Gatting) MG: Against the spinners I had some very good innings, but against the West Indies I did not play as well as I would have liked to. Probably I never got a chance because I did not last long enough. I never got a hundred against them.

Sometimes I got a start but did not go on to make a big score. I missed two tours, and missed playing against them because of injuries, broken thumb and so on. So I would have to say that I was not really good against the West Indies. But against the other sides, the hundreds that I got between 1985 and 1987 were probably as good as any. CC: It was during this period that you were made captain of England. MG: I was given the captaincy at Lord’s after the first Test against India. I took over from David (Gower). We lost the second Test at Leeds and drew at Edgbaston. CC: The conditions were pretty dreadful at Leeds. MG: It was a little medium-pacer who got the wickets in an afternoon spell — Roger Binny. He got five wickets in the session which ruined the Test match. It was just one of those things, a lottery depending on what the weather was like. If the sun was out it was flat, but if there were clouds it would nip around, always a wicket where if you bowled well and kept to the right areas you had a chance. There was also the issue of David.

People were taken aback a bit by his being sacked and therefore possibly it was a little difficult because he was still in the side. After that there was Edgbaston which we drew. CC: You got 180-odd in the Edgbaston Test MG: Yes, that’s right; and then there were the Ashes in the winter. CC: With Micky Stewart as the coach. MG: Yes, it was quite interesting when Mickey became the coach. I knew he was a very similar bloke to me. The nice thing was that when we picked the side, we were picking 15 or 16 and we had about one-and-a-half differences. It was quite amazing for two people to come together and understand and agree on what is best for the side. A very good sportsman, a straight man, and very passionate about the game. And a great help to me. CC: Not many people gave you a chance in the Ashes MG: True, but to be fair we had a very good team.

There were (Ian) Botham, Gower, (Allan) Lamb, and in (Phil) Edmonds and (John) Emburey as good a pair of spinners as anywhere in the world during those days. We had one or two guys who had points to prove in Chris Broad and Bill Athey. The talent was there. Young Phil DeFreitas was a huge bonus to us. Graham Dilley bowled as well as I have seen him. So, a lot of things went were going for us. We did not play very well in the first month. Then there was a welcome sort of team talk from Botham. Positive, very unlike him … and we were able to go out there believing we could win because he did. Beefy proved it too, by getting 138, which gave us a good position in the first innings. And the boys bowled really well. I don’t think we dropped a catch in the Test series, and the fielding, with Athey and DeFreitas in the slips, was quite outstanding. CC: Did it help that you were already leading Middlesex and had Emburey and Edmonds playing for you? MG: Yes, I suppose.

Phil was always a difficult bloke to captain, but he was a very passionate and talented cricketer who always wanted the team to do well. John Emburey was the same. Middlesex was a very good team. Blokes like Clive Radley played. Most of the players who played were full of passion. I am not sure I could do what the guys do now, play for England and nothing else. I enjoyed coming back and playing with my mates because I wanted to win for Middlesex. I never could understand why you would not want to play for your county, even between Tests, especially if you were a batsman. Also Read Mike Gatting: 10 interesting facts about the former English captain - Cricket Country › Mike Gatting: 10 interesting facts about the former English captain Mike Gatting, born June 6, 1957, is one of England’s most prolific batsmen of all time. By Shiamak Unwalla | Updated : June 6, 2015 12:16 PM IST Mike Gatting, born June 6, 1957, is one of England’s most prolific batsmen of all time.

On his 58th birthday, Shiamak Unwalla looks at 10 interesting facts about the former England skipper. 1. Middlesex legend Gatting was born in Kingsbury, and played for Middlesex his entire county career. British journalist Matthew Engel once wrote about Gatting, “For two decades, it was a sight as characteristic of Lord’s as Father Time himself: Mike Gatting, with jutting beard and strutting gait, biffing the ball past extra-cover for Middlesex or England.” 2. A unique track record Gatting has one of the most interesting and unique records; he has played the exact same number of First-Class and List A matches: 551. Very few cricketers have retired with the same number of matches played in each format. 3. A useful all-rounder Though Gatting is known predominantly for his batting exploits, he was actually a handy medium-pacer as well. Though he did not bowl a lot in international cricket, he often sent down a few overs for Middlesex. His First-Class bowling average of 29.76 and List A average of 27.52 are excellent for a non-regular bowler.

He also had two five-wicket hauls in First-Class cricket and one in List A cricket. 4. A fateful reverse-sweep Misbah-ul-Haq might hold the unwanted legacy of playing the most ill-advised shot in World T20 history, but Gatting probably holds that record in the longer version of the World Cup. It was the final of the 1987 World Cup. Australia had managed to set England 254, but at 135 for two it seemed Gatting would help England to their maiden World Cup triumph. Australian captain Allan Border, who had done little of note in the tournament with the bat, came on to bowl his part-time medium pace. The first ball he sent down proved to be the moment that turned the match. Gatting, highly uncharacteristically, got down on one knee to play the reverse sweep. He only managed to offer wicketkeeper Greg Dyer a catch, which was duly taken. England crashed to 246 for eight, as Australia won their first World Cup final by seven runs. The next three wins would be resounding ones. 5.

Bone in the ball One of the most horrific cricketing injuries took place when Malcolm Marshall bowled a vicious bouncer at Gatting in the first One-Day International (ODI) of the 1986 series in Sabina Park. With England huffing and puffing in the middle, skipper Viv Richards instructed the lethal Marshall to bowl the dreaded “perfume ball.” Marshall did as his captain asked, sending down a short one at Gatting, who attempted to hook. The ball missed the bat but not the face. It went on to fall onto the stumps. Not that it would have made a difference; Gatting would have had to walk off the field anyway. When Marshall picked up the ball, he found a piece of Gatting’s nasal bone embedded in the leather. To Gatt’s credit though, he returned just a couple of matches later to try and help England come back. It was to no avail though, as the West Indians absolutely crushed the visiting team. 6. Ball of the century Despite his many batting accomplishments, Gatting is perhaps best remembered as being the unfortunate soul to be on the receiving end of Shane Warne’s ball of the century.

The ball, which was Warne’s first on English soil, dipped in the air, pitched outside leg, and spun across Gatting to knock over the top of off stump. Gatting himself was completely astounded, and wore a look that suggested he was unable to compute what had just happened. 7. Ugly confrontation with umpire Shakoor Rana Perhaps one of the low points of Gatting’s career was his infamous standoff with Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana. Gatting and England were already put off by Rana wearing a Pakistan sweater while officiating. Rana’s questionable umpiring decisions and his reputation of being less than honourable didn’t help either. The growing friction between Gatting and Rana became a conflagration when Gatting, signalling to a fielder after having informed the batsman, was accused of cheating by Rana, who was at square leg at the time. The ensuing argument was a heated and violent one. Rana would later say, “In Pakistan many men have been killed for the sort of insults he threw at me.

He’s lucky I didn’t beat him.” Gatting had to put in a (doubtless unwilling and grudging) hand-written apology for the match to resume the next morning. 8. A tryst that cost the captaincy Gatting found himself in hot water with the board after it was alleged that he had invited a barmaid back to his room during a Test match, wherein Gatting was captain. It must be noted that there is no definitive proof of Gatting having actually spent the night with her; but the allegation of Gatting inviting her to his room was enough to cost him the captaincy, though Gatting has revealed that it was as much his run-in with Rana as anything that led to his axing. 9.

The ample girth and a love for food Graham Gooch wryly quipped about Warne’s Ball of the Century, “If it had been a cheese roll, it would never have got past him [Gatting].” Martin Johnson said of the same event, “How anyone can spin a ball the width of Gatting boggles the mind.” And then there is Dennis Lillee’s famous barb: “Hell, Gatt, move out of the way, I can’t see the stumps.” These jokes at Gatting’s expense were hardly the first — or last — made about the immense girth and appetite of the man. Gatting’s love of food was renowned; he would often be found munching on something or the other during breaks. To his credit though, his fitness was never compromised by either his width or his love of food. 10. MCC president In 2013, then-MCC President Mike Griffith passed the baton on to a deserving successor. He said, “Few people are so closely identified with Lord’s as Mike Gatting and I am delighted that he accepted my invitation to serve as President of MCC.

He made Lord’s his home for Middlesex, and made more appearances for the county than any other player.” With inputs from Abhishek Mukherjee ( Shiamak Unwalla is a proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla ) Middlesex County Cricket Club: Dynasty 1976-1985 Writers Under two very different captains, first Mike Brearley and later Mike Gatting, Middlesex were the pre-eminent county side for a decade, winning five County Championship titles and four one-day trophies in 10 seasons. John Stern finds out how they did it. In 1971, frustrated by a decade of under-achievement, Middlesex took the leftfield decision to offer the club captaincy to a batsman who had not yet made a County Championship century and who spent much of his time lecturing in Philosophy at Newcastle University. The appointment of Mike Brearley proved to be a masterstroke. He built a team full of talented, feisty and, in some cases, eccentric characters.

Middlesex reached both one-day finals in 1975 and even though they lost both, it was apparent that progress was being made. At the same time their under-25 side, containing Mike Gatting, John Emburey and others who would become first-team regulars, reached successive finals of their own in the Warwick Pool competition. A new era was dawning. Mike Brearley (opening batsman; captain 1971–82): The club had been fairly snobbish. There was quite a class distinction. There was a lot of humour, some of it quite sharp. It wasn’t a kindly set-up. There wasn’t much sense that your opinion was welcomed until you’d played 10 years as a capped player or played 20 or 30 times for England. It wasn’t conducive to a good team spirit. When I was made captain I did try to change that attitude in the dressing room and I had some sympathy with the younger players, which meant I probably didn’t have sympathy with the older players. They were suspicious of me, with some cause. One of the emerging talents was a Zambian-born, Cambridge-educated left-arm spinner called Philippe Henri Edmonds.

He didn’t hold back on or off the field. Ian Gould (wicketkeeper): Edmonds was a decent enough bloke, bit strange at times, but I’ve met a lot stranger people than him. He was good round the changing room. He was always having a pop at Brearlers. Those two were very educated people. Well, Philippe said he was educated, not sure whether he was. The other guy certainly was. But there was great banter in the corner between the two waffling on with long words. MB: He was a terrific cricketer. It’s well known that we had our difficulties. We also had enjoyable conversations. He was stimulating and provocative and probably I was too. His nickname when he first came into the side was ‘Margaret’ – leader of the opposition. That wasn’t me, that was the team. It was a tough environment. Mike Gatting (batsman; captain 1983–97): The atmosphere in the dressing room was very spiky at times but that’s what Brears wanted. He obviously didn’t get on as well with Philippe as he might have done but he didn’t want ‘yes men’ or everybody to be the same.

The one trait that everybody had, particularly Philippe, was they didn’t like coming second. Philippe-Henri Edmonds: leader of the opposition In 1976 Middlesex won the County Championship outright for the first time since the immortal summer of Compton and Edrich in 1947. The title was secured with a five-wicket victory at the Oval, against London rivals Surrey. Four bowlers – Allan Jones, Fred Titmus, Edmonds and Mike Selvey – took more than 60 wickets each for the season. Mike Selvey: It was the first year that the old guard weren’t around apart from Fred [Titmus]. We didn’t have any stars. It was a good side that played well together. It was a typical [Clive] Radley scampered single that won it in the end [securing a first-innings bonus point]. Jonah [Allan Jones] and I went down to the bar – in the middle of the innings – and had a couple of pints. But then a couple of wickets went down and I had to bat. I played like God. I was only in 10 or 15 minutes and got 29.

I was playing shots all over the place, pissed as a parrot. I’d obviously been too buttoned up before! The following season Middlesex were one batting bonus point away from winning the title outright again but instead had to share it with Kent. MS: We were playing Lancashire at Blackpool and we needed two more runs [to reach 150 and secure the crucial bonus point] and I was lbw to Jack Simmons . I got sawn off. Flat Jack was bowling round the wicket, this big swinging arm-ball and I just tried to turn it to leg and was given out. Terrible decision. A month earlier Middlesex had a remarkable win over Surrey at Lord’s in a three-day match in which only two overs’ play were possible on the first two days. MS: In those days I travelled down to Lord’s by train and I was standing at Wolverton station thinking about how we could win this game. It sounded simple: Wayne [Daniel] and I bowl them out, we declare, then Wayne and I bowl them out again and we knock off the runs. We started talking about it. The pitch was a bit damp. Wayne and I did bowl them out – for 49.

Embers faced one ball for us and we declared. We bowled them out again [for 89] and won by nine wickets, all in a single day, and got maximum points out of the game. In 1980 the county thought that their star overseas player, the Barbadian pace bowler Wayne Daniel, would be required by West Indies on their tour of England. They made alternative arrangements, recruiting a balding, 32-year-old South African swing bowler recommended by Mike Procter. But Vintcent van der Bijl had already turned down an offer from Glamorgan because he had just started a new job. Vince van der Bijl: It turned out that the chief executive of my new company, Derek Smith, was a Middlesex supporter and had lived through the golden summer of 1947. They gave me six months off. We had a magical time. Our two eldest daughters were six and four and the headmaster of the school we sent them to in London allowed us to take the kids all over the country. He viewed it as a great education. Middlesex, too, had a magical time.

Daniel was not picked by West Indies so suddenly they had a devastating new-ball attack, with Selvey and Simon Hughes as back-up and John Emburey and Edmonds as a top-class spin combination. MS: I can’t think that there have been many better bowling sides in the history of the County Championship and it’s a surprise we didn’t win more easily. We were very good that year. They finished 13 points clear of Surrey, who themselves were 67 points clear of Nottinghamshire in third. Wisden described Middlesex’s title as “virtually a one-horse race”. Van der Bijl took 85 Championship wickets at an average of 14.72, while Daniel took 67 at 21. Daniel and van der Bijl shared 152 Championship wickets between them in 1980 MG: He [van der Bijl] was undoubtedly one of the nicest men you’ll meet in cricket and an awesome bowler. He was a bit quicker than Joel [Garner] and he swung it away as well. He probably didn’t quite have Joel’s yorker but he was as accurate.

MB: I remember being suspicious of the signing of Vintcent, wondering whether we wanted a white South African. He became one of my best friends! But I was worried it would upset the balance of the team. Vince was an unbelievably good cricketer and a terrific member of the side. He also changed the culture. Part of that sharp humour, which we still had some of, was that you wouldn’t generally take the blame yourself. But he would always take the blame himself. He’d say things like: “We lost that match because of the two half-volleys I bowled at the start.” He was a lovely bloke and he would say this with complete sincerity. VvdB: I know there have been some great captains around the world but if anyone was better than Brearlers I’d like to have a chat. He was like an intellectual realist. He loved the intrigue of life and the interaction with people. He opened thoughts and experiences for us, which were lasting. He allowed us to explore ourselves. He challenged what we were thinking and within that absorbed and accepted all individuals in the group and made us a cohesive unit.

Middlesex also won the Gillette Cup in 1980, their second one-day trophy following their triumph over Glamorgan in the same competition in 1977. They also reached the semi-finals of the Benson & Hedges Cup and finished third in the 40-over John Player League. Van der Bijl returned to South Africa, leaving behind memories of one of the greatest single-season contributions in Championship history. Two years later Middlesex won the Championship again, having been unbeaten in all competitions until the middle of June. Brearley hit the winning runs at Worcester in his last match before retirement. Both Emburey and Edmonds wanted to take the captaincy reins but instead they were passed to Gatting, who provided a seamless transition with no let-up in the pursuit of silverware. MG: One good thing was that everyone knew I wasn’t going to be Mike Brearley. I hadn’t been to university. I was just me. They knew what they needed to know – I was hopefully fairly honest, sometimes a bit gullible in those days, probably still am. Brears allowed everyone to say their piece and we carried on with that, we didn’t shut the dressing room down.

It made for a feisty environment – oh yeah. Embers and I had some real good set-tos. I did what I thought was common sense which was to get the experienced players on board. You tried to get Philippe involved but… he was Philippe. Mike Gatting leapfrogged more senior players to be awarded the captaincy in 1983 Gatting’s side finished second in the Championship in 1983 and won a thrilling B&H final against Essex; the following year they came third and picked up another one-day trophy, beating Kent in the NatWest. In 1985, despite losing five players (Gatting, Paul Downton, Emburey, Edmonds and Norman Cowans), to England at various stages, Middlesex won their third Championship title in five years, heading off Hampshire by 18 points and gobbling up 85 of a possible 96 bowling points. New talents had emerged. Fast bowler Cowans debuted in 1981, toured with England in 1982/83 and took 125 Championship wickets in 1984 and 1985 combined.

Wayne Daniel: I think I helped Norman a great deal. I first met him when he was on the MCC groundstaff and he always wanted to talk about fast bowling. Then some evenings Norman would come into the Tavern and I would buy him a few pints of Guinness and say to him: “You gotta get strong, boy!” He was a skinny rake at that time. Then he joined Middlesex and we obviously spent a lot of time opening the bowling. I think he became a lot more aggressive by watching my attitude. Also Angus Fraser. He was very talented but at first he lacked the ‘I’m-gonna-get-you’ aggression that you need. Those guys observed the way I went about things and maybe that mental side of the game rubbed off on them. Daniel and Cowans were two of five members of that side who were of Caribbean extraction, the others being opener Wilf Slack, batsman Roland Butcher and paceman Neil Williams. The group became known as the Jackson Five. Slack was Middlesex’s leading batsman in 1985 with 1,618 runs at 47 and won a place on England’s ill-fated tour of West Indies the following winter.

Four years later he was dead after collapsing at the crease while playing a match in The Gambia. In all, Middlesex used 20 players in winning the Championship, including a teenage Angus Fraser. MG: People forget that we were losing so many players to England. We had some really good people who came in. I remember saying to the players at the start of the season that we would lose players to England and that opportunities will come. You have to take that opportunity and help keep the side as strong as it possibly can be, to maintain our standards and keep us where we are. Under Gatting’s captaincy, Middlesex continued to win trophies, including two more County Championships in 1990 and 1993. The county has not won the title since. Some of the interviews are taken from 150 Years of Middlesex County Cricket Club, edited by John Stern, and still available to buy from: shop.middlesexccc.com Tags: April 7, 2016 at 12:14 pm James said Excellent article. One of the “really good people who came in” for Middlesex during the 1981 season was left-arm spinner Dermott Monteith from Ireland.

Despite already being 38 by that stage, Monty was genuinely a top-class twirler. He took 24 wickets in eight County Championship matches in ’81 and ended with a first-class career average of 20.64. In truth, at his peak, he was certainly a better bowler than Edmonds, more attacking and he really gave it a rip. In fact, globally, perhaps only Bishen Bedi was a better SLA bowler in the ’70s than JD Monteith. Leave a comment You must be logged in to post a comment. Most Popular

Question: For which county did Mike Gatting play cricket?
Answer: MIDDLESEX