| Michael William Gatting (born June 6, 1957), usually known as Mike, is an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club. He also played for the English cricket team from 1977 to 1994, captaining it in 23 Test matches between 1986 and 1988.
Gatting was one of the most prolific batsmen in English domestic cricket virtually throughout his career, but it took him several years to establish himself in the England team, as he initially had great difficulty converting fifties into centuries at test match level. His first test century finally arrived after 54 test innings and he eventually accumulated ten of them. He captained England in to an Ashes series victory in Australia in 1986/87. Later that year came the "Shakoor Rana affair" when Gatting rowed with a Pakistani umpire in Faisalabad. The England hierarchy supported him in Pakistan, but he was sacked as England captain the following summer over an alleged encounter with a barmaid. He subsequently led a highly controversial rebel tour to South Africa.
In June 1993 at Old Trafford Gatting received Shane Warne's first delivery in an Ashes match. Warne pitched the ball a foot outside leg stump, and spun the ball past Gatting's bat to clip the off bail. This is sometimes referred to as the Ball of the Century. Another mishap for which Gatting will be remembered is being caught by Australian wicketkeeper Greg Dyer after trying to play a reverse sweep off opposing captain Allan Border's first ball during the 1987 World Cup final.
Gatting was a useful right arm medium pace bowler. He averaged under thirty with the ball in both first class and List A cricket, but he did not bowl with great frequency.
Gatting was named as one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in 1984. He retired from first class cricket in 1998 and has since worked as a coach and commentator. |
Great Britain