Early Years
I first got into cricket via a local club. My Mum and Dad used to be the steward and stewardess at the local sporting club that was part of Handley Page, a company who built aeroplanes. Mum and Dad used to work up there at the weekends to earn some extra money, having two young lads to raise.
There was always lots of different sports going on, so from a young age I was very much aware of it and interested. It wasn’t till I was nine or ten years of age and at primary school that I had my first game of cricket though.
It was thanks to our geography teacher that we started having games of cricket at school. She was from Sri Lanka and as cricket was one of her favourite games and one of her national sports she decided we should start playing. That was my first real experience of learning the game that would later become my career and passion.
By the time we reached secondary school, me and my brother were into playing pretty much any sport that was going. We’d play football, basketball, pool, darts, snooker, cricket, archery, table tennis, you name it, it was going on at the sports club and we’d play it!
Eventually we began to focus on football and cricket, though table tennis continued to feature highly, my brother Steve played at county level for Middlesex, I was never quite so good but still enjoyed the sport. We rose through the ranks of each sport, we both played to a good standard at football, Steve ended up on the books at Arsenal and I was playing as a junior for Watford.
One of the big turning points though was when I answered an advert in our local paper, the Willesden and Brent Chronicle. Brondesbury wasn’t all that far away from where we lived but Brondesbury Cricket Club who were advertising for players actually played in South Hampstead, South Hampstead CC played in Brondesbury which would have been far more convenient, but hopping on two buses to Brondesbury CC was one of the best decisions I ever made. They had some really good people at the club and good coaches. Both my brother and myself went there and that really was the start of playing cricket.
The journey to County Cricket
I first started playing for Middlesex at county level in the under 14’s schools team and went on to under 15’s before moving up to the under 19’s side which I started playing in when I was 16. Ron Bennett, the Middlesex coach was looking around for future players and I got signed up.
My second X1 debut for Middlesex didn’t quite go as planned. It was a one-day match against Kent at Ealing Cricket Club in London. I walked into bat, a few folk had turned out to see this bright new young kid make his debut. Gatting – caught Nicholls, bowled Shepherd 0 out first ball! So I needed my self-confidence building up, the club and friends really helped with. August bank holiday I managed to get fifty or sixty runs at Hove for the second XI. I turned up just after lunch after someone had let them down. I was playing at Stanmore Cricket Club when I got the message to head to Hove. I was given a fiver to cover a cab and the train fare. I made the mistake of getting of the train at Brighton, so ended up with quite a walk to get to the ground.
When I walked into the ground the scoreboard read 70 for 7 wickets and I thought to myself Middlesex were bowling well. Unfortunately we were actually batting, so I found myself batting very soon after lunch but managed to put on about 150 for the last two wickets and we ended up winning the match.
It was round about this time that we both played to a good standard at football, Steve was on the books at Arsenal and I was playing as a junior for Watford. It was time to make a choice as to whether I was going to play football or cricket.
First class debut
I made my debut for Middlesex in a one day game against a minor county at Lord’s I batted at number six, as the fourth wicket fell, all padded up I began the walk out to the middle from the changing rooms.
Having lived just down the road in Willesden and having always heard about Lords and what a great place it was, to actually play there for the first time representing my county was just incredible.
Heading down the stairs I felt a bit nervous, but it wasn’t too bad, out through the gate and into the middle. I made thirty odd runs and bowled a few overs too, we won the game, but then we were expected to.
My first class debut again at Lord’s in 1975 was a whole different ball game. I had to make runs, that was why I was picked. Worcestershire were the reigning the county champions and had West Indies test bowler Vanburn Holder in their side.
It’s a long walk out, down the steps, through the Long Room for the first time in first class cricket, as you walk through there were people looking quizzically at the new face in the side. By the time I walked through the gates my legs were definitely like jelly! I remember being quite nervous, tapping the bat to try to calm myself, trying to boost my confidence, thinking ‘come on try and enjoy this.’
I knew I’d be facing something much quicker to what I’d recently experienced but after I survived the first couple of balls the nerves settled. As things went on I do recall thinking to myself I wonder when they are ever going to ball me a bad ball? It just seemed like every ball was a good line and length and I began to wonder if I would ever score a run. I managed to stay there okay but really began to wonder if I was ever going to hit a boundary. It was an interesting learning process about what was required to play at that level. I played in the next game at Trent Bridge too.
There were some great people in the Middlesex side at the time who I could speak with and get advice. Guys like Clive Radley and Mike Brearley, who was captain. I came into the side with someone from the same age group who was trying to achieve the same thing. Ian Gould became a very good friend and we kind of grew up together in the side.
One Day Final at Lord’s
When it comes to memorable matches at the Home of Cricket, certainly my first one-day final in 1983 when I was Captain against Essex in the Benson & Hedges Cup. It was quite an incredible game of cricket . Clive Radley top scored for us with 89 not out , but we otherwise struggled and only ended up with a total of 196 from our 55 overs. In those days you had a break after twenty overs in each innings. Essex had scored over 100 and only had one wicket down in reply after by the break. We were getting trounced. But all of a sudden it all turned round and in a very tight finish we managed to win by four runs in my very first final!
We really had no right to win that game, it really was just an incredible game and feeling.
We developed a habit of winning low scoring one day games and repeated a similar feat in the 1986 final versus Kent when we pipped them to the trophy by just two runs. I do remember it being played in pretty awful light and rain.
Toughest Opponents?
Without a shadow of a doubt, facing the pace attack of the West Indies in the 1980s. They were just unbelievable. They had any one of twelve lethally quick bowlers to choose from. They were oozing talent to the point where talents like Sylvester Clarke & Wayne Daniel couldn’t even get in the side. With Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Partrick Patterson, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Ian Bishop, they had such an array of talent. They were without doubt the most talented and most demanding side in the world at the time and proved to be that for almost a decade.
Captaining England
Walking out for my first time as Captain of England at Lord’s was just so special. Walking out as a player for England is such an incredible feeling, as Captain it is on another level again. I’m not sure we did quite as well as we could have done when I captained England at Lords.
A memorable four days at Lord’s
One of the highlights at Lord’s would be playing for the MCC in their bi-centenary game in 1987 against the Rest of the World. It was a great day, with a large crowd for all five days. It was the first time I’d had the pleasure of having the best bowler in the World, Malcolm Marshall, on my side! The Rest of the World team included Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Courtney Walsh. I managed to get a hundred in the game. Sadly it rained on the last day but the first four days were spectacular and a lasting memory of playing at the Home of Cricket
Mike Gatting, President of the MCC 2013/2014
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Memory added on May 28, 2014
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