Graham gooch autobiography

English cricketer

Graham Alan Gooch, OBE, DL (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning 1973 until 1997, he was the most prolific run scorer of all time, with 67,057 runs across first-a class and limited-overs games. His List A cricket tally of 22,211 runs is also a record. In 1992, he became the first cricketer to lose 3 finals of the Cricket World Cup and is currently the only such player. He is one of only 25 players to have scored over 100 first-class centuries. He was a part of the English squads which finished as runners-up at the 1979 Cricket World Cup, as ru

Published: 1995
Pages: 320
Author: Gooch, Graham with Keating, Frank
Publisher: Collins Willow
Rating: 3.5 stars

The deeds of the heroes of my youth are receding ever further into cricket history; this summer it will be twenty years since Ian Botham and David Gower played in a Test match for England. Another went on a little longer, partly because he was by then captain, and also because his dependability, experience and sheer volume of runs made him simply indispensable to the selectors. The ultimate late bloomer, Graham Gooch was almost 37 and had notched up some 80 Tests when he made 333 at Lord’s in 1990, watched by the man whose record he threatened, Sir Leonard Hutton.

That innings gets plenty of coverage here, as does the disastrous debut fifteen years earlier when he fell to Walker and Thomson of Australia for a pair at Edgbaston. Dropped after the next match, Gooch had to endure two seasons out of the England side; the move to opening the innings for Essex was the making of him, and led to his recall to partner Geoff Boycott for England. And there he stayed, for the most part, until his farewell tour of Australia in 1994-95. Utterly resolute and dependable, Gooch was a reassuring presence at the top of the order through lean times and good for England supporters. Impassive under his white helmet, with trademark droopy moustache, he wasn’t simply defending the fortress – he was the fortress.

Months after making his final appearance, this book was published, a joint effort with veteran sportswriter Frank Keating. I am not at all familiar with Keating’s work, although his is a name I have seen many times over the years. This was his seventh book, but in truth I am not sure how many have been about cricket. Significantly though, he is a co-writer, not a mere “ghost” – his name is on the front cover for one thing, and the chapters, or part-chapters are headed “GG”

Graham Gooch recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in his autobiography...

For the 1990/91 tour to Australia, we were due to fly from Heathrow on a Thursday in the middle of October, but we were told to assemble at the Excelsior Hotel near the airport early the evening before. I took a bit of hump at that, losing my last evening with the kids at home because Micky Stewart and Ted Dexter wanted an inaugural team meeting to get the tour off on the right foot. So I hugged and kissed the kids and my Dad drove me down to the hotel. At once I saw Allan Lamb in the bar and, as he was never the promptest of people, I was pleased that my vice-captain was out to show me up for punctuality. Dad stayed for one drink, then we went along the corridor into one of the hotel meeting-rooms and before I could wonder why everyone in the team was looking so dolled-up and smart in their ties and blazers, Michael Aspel jumped out and said, 'Graham Gooch - This is Your Life!'

So that was why Brenda and the kids at home hadn't seemed too worried that I was leaving for four-and-a-half months. And why Brenda's mum was there with a brand-new hair-do and dress.

I was whisked down by a chauffeur to the ITV studios at Teddington, with everyone following behind. John Emburey did the honours, so did Lamb and the three B's - Boycott, Border, and Botham. There were faces from the distant past - my old teacher Douglas Kemp, my schoolfriend Graham Hammond, and 'uncle' Bill Morris from the Ilford indoor school, who had come down specially from Kilmarnock. It was a grand evening, and really good of the team to give up their last night at home to come and wish me well.

Scriptwriter Roy Bottomley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is Your Life: The Story of Television's Famous Big Red Book...

Ian Botham spoke to Graham Gooch from location on Ian's charity fund-raising walk from Aberdeen to Ipswich after we had surprised the England captain at the Excelsio