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Full name Michael William Gatting
Born June 6, 1957, Kingsbury, Middlesex
Current age 51 years 128 days
Major teams England,Middlesex
Also known as Gatt
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Other Coach, Commentator
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
79
138
14
4409
207
35.55
9764
45.15
10
21
552
11
59
0
ODIs
92
88
17
2095
115*
29.50
2968
70.58
1
9
165
11
22
0
First-class
551
861
123
36549
258
49.52
94
181
493
0
List A
551
508
79
14476
143*
33.74
12
87
177
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
79
32
752
317
4
1/14
1/14
79.25
2.52
188.0
0
0
0
ODIs
92
14
392
336
10
3/32
3/32
33.60
5.14
39.2
0
0
0
First-class
551
10061
4703
158
5/34
29.76
2.80
63.6
2
0
List A
551
6234
4817
175
6/26
6/26
27.52
4.63
35.6
4
1
0
Career statistics
Test debut
Pakistan v England at Karachi, Jan 18-23, 1978 scorecard
Last Test
Australia v England at Perth, Feb 3-7, 1995 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
Pakistan v England at Sahiwal, Dec 23, 1977 scorecard
Last ODI
Sri Lanka v England at Moratuwa, Mar 20, 1993 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span
1975 - 1998
List A span
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
Notes
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1984
Walter Lawrence Trophy 1984
Middlesex coach 1999-2000
