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Full name Michael William Gatting
Born June 6, 1957, Kingsbury, Middlesex
Current age 51 years 129 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

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

138

4409

207

35.55

9764

45.15

552

ODIs

2095

115*

29.50

2968

70.58

165

First-class

551

861

123

36549

258

49.52

181

493

List A

551

508

14476

143*

33.74

177

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

752

317

1/14

79.25

2.52

188.0

ODIs

392

336

3/32

33.60

5.14

39.2

First-class

551

10061

4703

158

5/34

29.76

2.80

63.6

List A

551

6234

4817

175

6/26

27.52

4.63

35.6

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

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

Mar 8, 2008

Mike Gatting at an MCC spin bowling clinic © MCC

Feb 22, 2007

Mike Gatting, president of the Lord's Taverners, opens a new cricket centre in Paddington © Lord's Taverners

Sep 30, 2006

Mike Gatting bats during a charity match © Getty Images

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