Name:

Gatting, Michael W

Nickname:

Mike, Gatt

Date of Birth:

06 Jun 1957

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Kingsbury, London

Career:

Test: 1978 - 1995
ODI: 1977 - 1993
First Class: 1975 - 1998

Teams:

England (Country)
Middlesex (Regional)

Gatting: Memories of 1987 Ashes win

Mike Gatting: Ashes winning skipper who spoke his mind

Mike Gatting was born on 6 June 1957 in London. He was a pugnacious right handed batsman and useful right arm medium paceman.

He made his Middlesex debut in 1975 at 18 years of age and was capped at 20. Appointed captain in 1983 he led the county until part way through the 1996 season to three county championships.

Gatting made his Test debut during the Packer era, against Pakistan in Karachi in 1978. He made 5 and 6 runs.

In the first few years of his career he struggled to maintain a regular place in the England team despite having success in First Class cricket. He simply could not convert fifties to centuries at Test level. In 1984, he struck his maiden Test century in the 2nd innings against India at Mumbai.

He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1984.

Gatting took over from Gower as captain in 1986. He led England to a surprise win over Australia down-under in 1986/87. He also led England to the final of the 1987 World Cup. 

In 1987, he was embroiled in several controversial issues including the dramatic run in with Umpire Rana in Pakistan and the bar-maid affair which eventually cost him the captaincy.

Gatting led an England rebel team to South Africa and was banned for 3 years in 1989.  He returned to play for England in 1992 and signed off his Test career with a century in Adelaide in 1994 against the old enemy Australia.

Overall, he played in 74 Tests with 23 as captain.He scored 4,227 runs with 9 centuries. He had a top score of 207 versus India at Madras in 1984/85.

In first class cricket, Gatting scored 30,114 runs with 96 centuries including a highest score of 258 versus Somerset at Bath in 1984. He took 154 wickets with a best performance of 5 for 34 versus Glamorgan at Swansea in 1982 and he held 395 catches.

He retired from first-class cricket in 1998 and has since worked as a coach and commentator.

Gatting was the President of the MCC and was awarded a CBE.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter