1. Going for a reverse sweep at 2-135 in the 1987 World Cup Final
chasing 253. Gatting was out for 41 and England fell 7 runs short.

2. The bewildered look on his face when he was bowled by the ball of
the century. It was a decent nut to get first up from Warne.

3. The massive blow up with Pakistan umpire Shakoor Rana in 1987. Rana
accused Gatting of cheating and Gatting told him to get lost (may have
used different words than 'get lost') Rana then demanded an apology
from Gatting who was having none of it. The next days play was called
off over the disagreement between captain and umpire.

4. Being one of only 5 English captains to win a test series in
Australia. England won the 1986/87 series 2-1 down under.

5. Making his highest test score of 207 in the fourth test against
India in 1985 in India. It gave England a 2-1 series lead, and with a
draw in the fifth test, it would help them to a series win.

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In message <mp1q0hptse5t070f5qc7ls3g02atocqg5m@4ax.com>, max. it
<max@tea.time> writes
>
>
>1. Going for a reverse sweep at 2-135 in the 1987 World Cup Final
>chasing 253. Gatting was out for 41 and England fell 7 runs short.

He got a lot of - I think rather unfair - criticism for his choice of
shot. Nowadays it would be seen as routine.

>
>2. The bewildered look on his face when he was bowled by the ball of
>the century. It was a decent nut to get first up from Warne.
>
>3. The massive blow up with Pakistan umpire Shakoor Rana in 1987. Rana
>accused Gatting of cheating and Gatting told him to get lost (may have
>used different words than 'get lost') Rana then demanded an apology
>from Gatting who was having none of it. The next days play was called
>off over the disagreement between captain and umpire.
>
>4. Being one of only 5 English captains to win a test series in
>Australia. England won the 1986/87 series 2-1 down under.
>
>5. Making his highest test score of 207 in the fourth test against
>India in 1985 in India. It gave England a 2-1 series lead, and with a
>draw in the fifth test, it would help them to a series win.
>

It was during that series that the captain, David Gower, asked the
bowler, Phil Edmonds IIRC, if he would like Mike Gatting any wider at
slip. Edmonds memorably replied: "If Gatt was any wider, he'd burst."
--
John Hall
"Home is heaven and orgies are vile,
But you *need* an orgy, once in a while."
Ogden Nash (1902-1971)

On Wed, 16 Feb 2022 18:49:45 +0000, Mike Holmans <spam@jackalope.uk>
wrote:

>On Wed, 16 Feb 2022 16:50:30 +0000, John Hall
><john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>In message <mp1q0hptse5t070f5qc7ls3g02atocqg5m@4ax.com>, max. it
>><max@tea.time> writes
>>>
>>>
>>>1. Going for a reverse sweep at 2-135 in the 1987 World Cup Final
>>>chasing 253. Gatting was out for 41 and England fell 7 runs short.
>>
>>He got a lot of - I think rather unfair - criticism for his choice of
>>shot. Nowadays it would be seen as routine.
>
>Nowadays he'd have played it so often in nets and games that it would
>have been fluent and natural. But it was still a fairly new-fangled
>shot back then, and the illiberal bigots with their traditionalist
>agendas didn't approve.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Mike

You could always spot the young hockey players playing cricket. They
could sweep to both sides of the wicket but they couldn't play with a
straight bat.

max.it

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I remember Gatt coming down to my local municpal indoor nets one winter and giving a free 2 hour demonstration on batting against spinners. The bowlers were two Minor Counties standard guys and he absolutely took them apart (this was post-Warne). He then happily chatted and signed autographs for ages afterwards. Still have my 1993 Wisden with his signature in it.

I've got to say he didn't really seem overweight, despite all the jokes - solidly built would be a better description. His forearms were absolutely massive.

Big Al

On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 4:57:18 PM UTC, John Hall wrote:
> In message <mp1q0hptse5t070f5...@4ax.com>, max. it
> <m...@tea.time> writes
> >
> >
> >1. Going for a reverse sweep at 2-135 in the 1987 World Cup Final
> >chasing 253. Gatting was out for 41 and England fell 7 runs short.
> He got a lot of - I think rather unfair - criticism for his choice of
> shot. Nowadays it would be seen as routine.
> >
> >2. The bewildered look on his face when he was bowled by the ball of
> >the century. It was a decent nut to get first up from Warne.
> >
> >3. The massive blow up with Pakistan umpire Shakoor Rana in 1987. Rana
> >accused Gatting of cheating and Gatting told him to get lost (may have
> >used different words than 'get lost') Rana then demanded an apology
> >from Gatting who was having none of it. The next days play was called
> >off over the disagreement between captain and umpire.
> >
> >4. Being one of only 5 English captains to win a test series in
> >Australia. England won the 1986/87 series 2-1 down under.
> >
> >5. Making his highest test score of 207 in the fourth test against
> >India in 1985 in India. It gave England a 2-1 series lead, and with a
> >draw in the fifth test, it would help them to a series win.
> >
> It was during that series that the captain, David Gower, asked the
> bowler, Phil Edmonds IIRC, if he would like Mike Gatting any wider at
> slip. Edmonds memorably replied: "If Gatt was any wider, he'd burst."
> --

i saw him a few years ago and he was a lot wider, but fortunately he hasnt
burst yet.

my memories of him;

1. he had his nose smashed by a bouncer from marshall on the windies tour.
he had a poor record against the windies, not surprising after that.

2. he got sacked as captain for having a drink with a woman in a hotel room

3. he led a rebel tour to RSA just as apartheid was ending

4. he scored his final test 100 vs oz when england finally managed to beat
them at adeleide in 1995. i think that was the match when england chose
3 windian quicks and they took almost all the wkts.

5. he took over 30 tests to get a test century, and was averaging less than
24 when he finally did so. Dont think people would put up with that nowadays.
So maybe hamids got a few more years ;)

mike

On Friday, February 18, 2022 at 3:08:34 AM UTC+11, mike wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 4:57:18 PM UTC, John Hall wrote:
> > In message <mp1q0hptse5t070f5...@4ax.com>, max. it
> > <m...@tea.time> writes
> > >
> > >
> > >1. Going for a reverse sweep at 2-135 in the 1987 World Cup Final
> > >chasing 253. Gatting was out for 41 and England fell 7 runs short.
> > He got a lot of - I think rather unfair - criticism for his choice of
> > shot. Nowadays it would be seen as routine.
> > >
> > >2. The bewildered look on his face when he was bowled by the ball of
> > >the century. It was a decent nut to get first up from Warne.
> > >
> > >3. The massive blow up with Pakistan umpire Shakoor Rana in 1987. Rana
> > >accused Gatting of cheating and Gatting told him to get lost (may have
> > >used different words than 'get lost') Rana then demanded an apology
> > >from Gatting who was having none of it. The next days play was called
> > >off over the disagreement between captain and umpire.
> > >
> > >4. Being one of only 5 English captains to win a test series in
> > >Australia. England won the 1986/87 series 2-1 down under.
> > >
> > >5. Making his highest test score of 207 in the fourth test against
> > >India in 1985 in India. It gave England a 2-1 series lead, and with a
> > >draw in the fifth test, it would help them to a series win.
> > >
> > It was during that series that the captain, David Gower, asked the
> > bowler, Phil Edmonds IIRC, if he would like Mike Gatting any wider at
> > slip. Edmonds memorably replied: "If Gatt was any wider, he'd burst."
> i saw him a few years ago and he was a lot wider, but fortunately he hasnt
> burst yet.
>
> my memories of him;
>
> 1. he had his nose smashed by a bouncer from marshall on the windies tour.
> he had a poor record against the windies, not surprising after that.

Also not helped that his series against them had
4 tests (1980), 1, 1, 1, 2 tests
I don't know the details - maybe each time he was called up for the last test after other people had failed - but that's not a way to get somebody to perform in a series

>
> 2. he got sacked as captain for having a drink with a woman in a hotel room

well that's his story
>
> 3. he led a rebel tour to RSA just as apartheid was ending

which he probably only went on because of 2)
>
> 4. he scored his final test 100 vs oz when england finally managed to beat
> them at adeleide in 1995.

Yeah, averaged 20 for the series.

>i think that was the match when england chose
> 3 windian quicks and they took almost all the wkts.

1st innings Malcolm 3, Fraser 3, Lewis & DeFreitas 2 each
2nd innings Malcolm 4, Fraser 1, Lewis 4, Tuffnell 1

My recollection is that Malcolm was bowling really well that series but let down massively by the English fielding (including his own), should have had twice the wickets
>
> 5. he took over 30 tests to get a test century, and was averaging less than
> 24 when he finally did so. Dont think people would put up with that nowadays.
> So maybe hamids got a few more years ;)

and was only on the tour because Gower insisted on him

On Friday, February 18, 2022 at 1:35:55 PM UTC+11, Mike Holmans wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Feb 2022 16:46:43 -0800 (PST), Hamish Laws
> <hamis...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On Friday, February 18, 2022 at 3:08:34 AM UTC+11, mike wrote:
> >> 4. he scored his final test 100 vs oz when england finally managed to beat
> >> them at adeleide in 1995.
> >
> >Yeah, averaged 20 for the series.
> >
> >>i think that was the match when england chose
> >> 3 windian quicks and they took almost all the wkts.
> >
> >1st innings Malcolm 3, Fraser 3, Lewis & DeFreitas 2 each
> >2nd innings Malcolm 4, Fraser 1, Lewis 4, Tuffnell 1
> >
> >My recollection is that Malcolm was bowling really well that series but let down massively by the English fielding (including his own), should have had twice the wickets
> Yeah. He and Gough had a wonderful morning at the SCG whacking Shane
> Warne all over the park and then combined again to bowl them out for
> about 115.

It's safe to say that Malcolm wasn't much of a bat but he did have the ability to hit Warne a long way.

> Rain saved Aus in that match.

Rain certainly helped, along with some conservative batting & declaration from England.
They lost 7 overs on the last day with Australia batting and a lot of time earlier in the match but you've got to ask whether England needed to set 449 as a target and whether Atherton could have been a bit quicker than than 67 from 166 balls (I think Hick got becalmed late as well)