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NIRSA Slow Pitch Softball Rules Book & Umpires' Manual-3rd Editn $10.53 No Synopsis Available

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A Slow-pitch Summer $14.96 This book is in New - Excellent condition

Softball: Slow and Fast Pitch $4 No Synopsis Available

Thunder SW-12 Slow Pitch Softball (pack of 12) $59.99 Thunder SW-12 Slow Pitch Softball, durable poly-urethane core with a top quality synthetic cover and blue stitching. .400 COR, 325 compression. USSSA approved. 12".

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The Art of Hitting Slow-Pitch Softball $12.71 Bob Campbell, affectionately known as 'Mr. Softball,' presents this primer on solid hitting in softball. He covers topics such as: mental approach, hitting strategy, developing a hitting system, and much, much more. Play ball!

The Pitch $17.16 The Pitch

Pitch $9.95 Pitch

Easton 2010 Synergy Tri-Zone SCN16 Slow-Pitch Bat $349.95 Easton 2010 Synergy Tri-Zone SCN16 Slow-Pitch Bat. * IMX Composite * Handle Flex Rating-90 * VRS Rating-85 * Hitting Area Rating-* Extreme 100+ MPH * 13.5" extended barrel, Single System Technology * Ultra-thin 29/32" tapered handle with Pro-Tack grip

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Easton 2010 Stealth Tri-Zone SCN15 Slow-Pitch Bat $349.95 Easton 2010 Stealth Tri-Zone SCN15 Slow-Pitch Bat. * IMX Composite * Handle Flex Rating-75 * VRS Rating-95 * Hitting Area Rating-100 * Swing Weight (M.O.I.) Rating-90 * Extreme 100+ MPH performance * 13.5" extended barrel, CXN design * Slightly end loaded for more power * Ultra-thin 29/32" tapered handle with Pro-Tack grip

Combat 2010 Gear Supremacy Slow Pitch Softball Bat $199.99 Combat 2010 Gear Supremacy Slow Pitch Softball Bat. The new Gear Supremacy is a huge improvement on the original Gear Virus. Combats engineers utilizing Combats new patented Blended Fiber Technology have increased bending stiffness to fine tune the barrel trampoline response to achieve maximum allowable performance with Combats legendary Ultra Soft Feel. Combats patent pending Gear Technology combined with Combats Variable Stiffness Technology results in a Super Sweetspot Size.

Pitch Black $12.78 This compilation offers an introduction to the music of Pitch Black (Paddy Free and Michael Hodgson), a duo from New Zealand simultaneously dedicated to dark, dubwise electronica and unwilling to be pigeonholed quite that easily. Drawing on material from six albums dating back to 1998 and featuring remixes by the likes of Youth, International Observer, and Kerretta, this collection explores instrumental dub ("Lost in Translation"), house ("Electric Earth," "Reptile Room"), rockers reggae ("Transient Transmissions"), and even a sort of dubbed-up instrumental rock that brings to mind a Jamaican version of the Durutti Column ("Bird Soul"). At times the ambience gets dark enough to be nearly creepy, as on the slow, heavyweight rockers groove of "The Gatherer" and the outer space house/steppers workout "Electric Earth." But only very rarely -- the slightly too-repetitive and harmonically static "Freefall [Friends Electric Remix]," for example -- does the groove dissipate into mere texture or mood; for the most part, Pitch Black's genius is in generating sound sculptures that perfectly balance spaciousness, tightness, textural variation, and pure throbbing bassline bliss. ~ Rick Anderson, Rovi

Slow: $31.49 Slow

Slow $10 Slow

Mike Gatting: The Hero, The Villain, and the 'Naughty Boy'

On Nov. 1987, on an extremely humid day at Mumbai, Mike Gatting led his England side superbly on their way to a famous victory over India in WC Semi-Final. Like all good captains, he led from the front, first with the bat he scored a quick-fire 56, sharing a century stand with MoM Graham Gooch. Then on the field, he took a vital catch at the deep to dismiss his opposite number Kapil Dev, just as the Indian captain threatened to take the game away from England. But, just days later, in the final at the Eden Gardens, Gating became the villain, as he attempted to reverse sweep the Aussie captain, Allan Border,  failed to do so, and virtually handed the cup to the Aussies. In December, of the same year, he played a smashing knock of 79 (of just 81) deliveries, dominating the 117 run 3rd wicket stand with Chris Broad, against Pakistan,  and showing his teammates that Abdul Qadir was not unplayable. Yet, just the next day, he got involved in the infamous ‘Shakoor Rana' incident, and was accused of bringing the game into disrepute.

Despite the incident, the England selectors kept faith on him as captain, and he started the 1988 summer well, leading England to a 3-0 ‘White-Wash' against WI in the ODI series. But, then on the 4th day of the 1st test match he got involved in a sex scandal with a waitress, and lost his captaincy. The following summer he led a group of ‘rebel' England players to a tour of SA. His international career seemed over. A twist in Pretoria policy in 1991 meant that SA was reinstated in international cricket, and the ‘rebels' were allowed back. Gatting returned in Jan 1993, to tour India, and retired after the Ashes series of 1994-95. For Mike Gatting, the good times and the bad times were never too far apart.

The fact, that he made the headlines for the wrong reasons, a number of times, might give the false impression that he was one of cricket's bad boys. Actually, he was a true gentleman. In fact, in his approach he belonged to the Pre-Packar days, when cricket was well and truly a gentleman's game. He liked to play the game in a leisurely pace, and his rather bulky figure suggested that like many of his generation, he too, bothered little about physical fitness.  Also, he proved himself to be an excellent captain, both at the County circuit, and also at the international level.  His problems arose from the fact that on couple of occasions, he was stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time, and behaved like a ‘naughty' boy.

An average of 35.55 over 79 tests doesn't sound brilliant, but during his heydays, (between December 1984-December 1987), he was one of the most consistent batsmen in world cricket. One century followed another, and there were some really big ones. Short and stocky, he mostly scored of the back foot, square of the wicket, against the quick bowlers. But, he really came into his own, against the spinners. Despite his strong built, he was extremely nimble in his footwork. And it was a delight to watch him dancing down the wicket, and driving beautifully through the cover region. A comparison with Stan McCabe, at his prime, perhaps would be a bit unfair. But, he was without doubt, the most entertaining and effective player of spin bowling among his countrymen during his generation. Overall, his international career can be divided into 4 parts: The period of uncertainty (1978-1984), the period of prosperity (1984-1987), the beginning of the end (1988-1989), and after a 4 year break, the return and the end (1993-1995).

The period of uncertainty (1978-1984): At the age of 20, Gatting was a surprise choice during the 1977-78 season for the tour of the orient, with test Series in Pakistan and NZ. It was a surprise move on the part of the England selectors, who always seem a bit reluctant to try young players at the international level. Here, it was a bold move, but unfortunately, it didn't work; Gatting failed to reach double figures in the 2 tests he played, at Karachi and Auckland, against different oppositions. These failures combined with the arrival of David Gower, and the return of Graham Gooch meant that Gating didn't return to test cricket before 1980, to face the mighty WI pace battery. Perhaps, he was a bit unlucky, during the 1978-79 season, English batsmen scored tons of runs against a depleted Aussie attack as England thrashed their arch rivals 5-1. Similarly, the following summer the Indian bowling attack presented the English batsmen some easy runs. The great spinners Chandra and Bedi were coming to the end of their careers, The Indian captain Venkat, was never really a match winning bowler at the highest level, certainly not on good wickets, and young Kapil Dev, in his very first England tour, was still adjusting his length to suit English conditions. Gower and others took this opportunity.

During the series against the WI pace menace, Gatting showed enough courage and technical ability to justify the faith shown on him by the selectors, but he failed to convert a number of starts into meaningful scores. Things continued on the same vein, the following summer, in the Ashes series, and Gatting only cemented his place for the India tour the following winter, with couple of half centuries, in the final match at Oval, after the series had been decided in England's favor by the brilliance of Ian Botham. In the subcontinent, Gatting failed to take advantages of batting friendly conditions, and by the following summer his future at the international level seemed extremely doubtful. Too many soft dismissals, between scores of 20 and 40 were not doing any good to his side, and his own progress as a top order batsman was also hampered. No one was questioning his technique, it was his temperament, (or rather the lack of it in the eyes of his critics), that was being questioned. Still, given his chance against the Kiwis at Lord's in 1983, he seemed to have finally overcome his problems.

At the end of the 1st day, Gatting was 74* at the crease. After Gower and Tavare had laid the foundation, Gatting batted in his usual attacking manner in the evening session. The morning papers talked a lot about a possible hundred for Gatting, and possible turn around in his career. All these talks were a bit premature, Gatting looked extremely shaky the next morning, and when (Sir) Richard Hadlee had him caught by John Wright, for 81, it came as a surprise to no one. He followed this with knocks of 15,14 and 11, but still found a place for the winter tours of NZ and Pakistan, This time, NZ first, followed by Pakistan.

Gatting struggled in NZ, but lack of form and fitness of the opening batsmen, meant that Gatting was unexpectedly promoted to the opening slot during the Pak tour. He did pretty well, scoring 75 (and sharing a 127 run opening stand with Chris Smith) at Faisalabad, and followed this with 53 in the 2nd innings (this time sharing a century partnership with David Gower for the 3rd wicket). But, then came his infamous dismissal at Lord's in the summer.

Clive Lloyd's men landed in England early in the summer, already wearing the tag the undisputed but unofficial champions of test match cricket. Already, Lloyd had twice led his country in series victories in England, in 1976 and in 1980. But, this being his last tour of England, Lloyd wanted something special from his players, and they duly obliged, ‘white-washing' England 5-0. The first test match at Edgebaston was badly one sided. Unable to cope with the extra pace of the WI bowlers, England capitulated to 191 and 235 all out, losing by an innings and 180 runs. Left-handed opener Andy Lloyd made his test debut in his home county ground. But, in the first morning, after scoring just 10, he was struck in his head by a rising delivery from Malcolm Marshall. He immediately retried hurt, and didn't play any further part in the match, In fact, his test career ended there. He still finds his name in the record-books to be the only test opening batsman never to be dismissed in a test match. As expected, there were changes in the batting line up for the 2nd test at Lord's. Another left handed debutant Chris Broad came to take  Lloyd's (Andy) place, and Gatting came in the middle order, at the expense of Derek Randall. Although Randall scored only 0 and 1, batting at No. 3 in the first match, he must have considered himself very unlucky to lose his place in the side permanently. Batting down the order (where he was always more comfortable), he had scored couple of glorious hundreds at NZ earlier that year. It was poor judgment on the part of selectors to force him to bat at the vital No.3 position, that too against the most fearsome bowling in world cricket.

England dominated the rain affected 1st day. Broad fully justified his inclusion with a gritty 55, and his opening partner Graeme Fowler completed a fine hundred (106) on the 2nd day. But the middle order collapsed against the hostile pace of Marshall (6/85) and eventually England reached only 286 all out. But, then brilliant bowling by Botham (8/103) combined with couple of dubious LBW decisions given against Richards and Lloyd meant that England took a surprise lead of 45 on the 1st innings. England was quickly restricted to 36/3 in their 2nd innings, and as Gatting came out to join Allan Lamb, the match was on the balance. The light on the Saturday afternoon wasn't brilliant, but Gatting looked quite comfortable against the WI pace attack. But after reaching 29, and dominating the half century partnership, he badly miss-judged a delivery from Marshall that pitched just outside the off-stump. Gatting let the ball go, but it came back and struck his pad, and he was adjudged to be LBW. As he walked back to the dressing room, he must have wondered whether his last opportunity had come and gone. Indeed, the Sunday newspapers were full of speculations about his rather uncertain future at the international level. To make matter worse, England would eventually lose the match by 9 wickets, on the final day, after dominating the match most of the time. Gordon Greenidge's brilliant double hundred on the final day proved to be decisive factor at the end.

Yet, for Mike Gatting, (and indeed for the whole England team), things would drastically change for the better during the winter tour of India. In the slow pitches and bright daylight of the subcontinent, Mike Gatting would finally show the cricketing world his full talent. But, before that, he first needed the support of the selectors, for one more time.

 

The Period of Prosperity (1984-1987): After his infamous dismissal at the Lord's, Gatting's future as a test batsman, looked very bleak. Most pundits wrote him off, and most of his fans were resigned to the fact that there hero would join the list of players, who were enormously successful in 1st class cricket, without shining at the highest level of the game. Yet, as the summer progressed, things started to look a bit brighter for the Middlesex captain. Of course, he was out of the England team, but in his absence the team followed one dismal performance by another. Especially the batting looked extremely shaky.

In the middle order, Allan Lamb showed plenty of courage and was rewarded with 3 hundreds; the opener Fowler followed his hundred at Lord's with a few useful knocks here and there. But, the skipper David Gower struggled badly. Among the youngsters, only Chris Broad showed the temperament necessary for this level. And the worst part was, England just couldn't find anyone to perform at the vital No.3  position.

In fact, England tried 5 different batsmen, (plus a night-watchman) in that position during the series. A summary of their performances is:

Edgebaston- Derek Randall:        0 and 1

Lord's-David Gower:                      3 and 21

Headingley:-Paul Terry(Debut):                 8 and 1

Old Trafford- Paul Terry: 7 and Paul Downton: 24

(WK Downton acted as makeshift No.3 after Terry had broken his arms. Downton had already opened the innings in the 1st match following Andy Lloyd's career ending injury)

The Oval-Pat Pocock Night-watchman) 0 and Chris Tavare:49.

(Interestingly, the WI No.3, left handed Larry Gomez, started the series with 143 at Edgebaston, and followed this with 92* at Lord's, and 104* at Headingley).

So, the poor performance by the England middle-order strengthened Gatting's chances of a return. Another thing in his favor was his reputation as a fine player of spin bowling. England might have been battered by the barrage of short pitch bowling from Marshall, Garner and Holding, but the selectors knew they would see very little quality fast bowling in India. Although, the likes of Doshi, Yadav and Ravi Shahstri had proved themselves to be rather poor substitutes of the famed Indian spin quartet of the 70's, still, in slow turning wickets, India's main attacking weapon would be the spinners. Gatting, was considered ideally suited to face this menace. Finally, as Ian Botham opted out of the tour, the value of players like Gatting, with plenty of experience in the sub-continent increased.

At the end, it was between Gatting and Tavare for the vital No.3 position in the batting line up (And along with it the job of vice-captaincy).  Initially Tavare looked to be the favorite; back in 1981-82 he was lot more successful than Gatting in the India tour. There he had scored a classy 149 in the 3rd test at Delhi. But, he angered the England selectors with his effort against SL at Lord's (following the WI series). Against a benign bowling attack, on batting friendly conditions, Tavare took 95 deliveries to score just 14 runs. But, the final decision remained in the balance before the NatWest final, also at Lord's, in early September.

As autumn was setting in over Europe, the domestic season in England was coming towards it's end. The final showpiece saw Gatting's Middlesex, beat Tavare's Kent in a thrilling final. The winning runs came of the very last ball of the match. This success, more than anything else booked Gatting's place for the India tour. He was also appointed the deputy to David Gower.

Having got his chance, Gatting was determined to make the most of it. But, for both Gatting, and the entire England team, the tour would start amidst chaotic situation.

Just as the England team was scheduled to start their tour, Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minster of India, was killed in tragic circumstances. The sad incident took place on 31st October. Very soon, the political situation in the largest democracy of the world became extremely tense, and at one the stage the future of the England tour became rather uncertain. Fortunately, the neighboring SL invited Gower's men to play a few practice matches there. As the situation in India improved the India tour started, with some minor modifications in the schedules. Still, the initial uncertainty affected England's early preparation and it was evident to everybody on the 1st day of the test series, at Wankhede, on 28th November.

After Gower won the toss, and decided to bat, the openers Fowler and Robinson looked fairly comfortable early on, before Fowler, the left-hander, played a full toss from the leg spinner Shivaramakrishnan straight back to bowler. Then a mixture of inspired Indian bowling, poor England batting and some dubious umpiring decisions saw England slump to 114/7. Shiva followed his initial success by having Robinson ct. behind, and Gatting ct. and bowled. Kapil Dev, in the middle of a lively spell, accounted for Gower and Lamb. Only some determined batting by Edmonds and Downton took the score close to 200 (195). On a good batting wicket, this was never going to be enough, and although the Indian top order batted in a cavalier approach, trying to play too many shots, Ravi Shastri, coming at No.6, made the most of a missed stumping by Downton, (on 38), to reach 142, Kirmani also reached the 3 figures, and from 218/6, India eventually reached 465, taking a decisive lead of 270 on the 1st innings.

Kapil Dev quickly dismissed debutant Robinson for 1, but then India faced stiff resistance from the 2nd wicket partnership of Fowler and Gatting. During the summer, Fowler, from Lancashire had already earned the distinction of being a reliable and gritty opening bat. He was not very spectacular, but during his brave 106 at Lord's he had shown great ability in handling hostile short pitch bowling. Here, he disappointed everyone with his mode of dismissal on the 1st day, after looking good at 28. Determined to make amends, he dug in well on the 3rd evening, and continued on well on the 4th morning. Gatting, at the other end was more aggressive. Despite the situation of the match, he took the attack to the Indian spinners. This was the only way he knew to bat. The partnership worked wonderfully well, until Fowler lost his patience, and was trapped LBW for 55. The 135 run 2nd wicket stand had given England hopes, but then the experienced duo of Gower and Lamb contributed only 2 and 1 respectively. No one, however, could deny Gatting his first test hundred. He eventually reached 136, before becoming a victim of Shivaramakrishnan for the 2nd time in the match. The fact that the England score at the time was 222/6, showed how much the others struggled for their runs. Gatting's effort here would be overshadowed by the 12 wicket of hall young leggie Laxman Shivaramakrishnan; but very interestingly, Shiva would follow this effort with 6 wickets in the 1st innings Delhi, and some impressive performances at Australia during a one-Day competition later that season, but then would quickly decline into oblivion, Gatting, in contrast, would follow this hundred with 115* at Pune to lead England to victory in the 1st ODI, and then would go from strength to strength, at least for the next 2/3 years.

Despite their victory at Mumbai, the Indian top order looked rather brittle against a mediocre England bowling attack. The fragility of the Indian top order appeared again at Delhi, and this time India was soundly beaten by 8 wickets. Tim Robinson, only in his 2nd test became England's batting hero, scoring 160 in the1st innings. Gatting also played his part, His quick-fire 30 (of 32 balls) and Lamb's 37 (of 38) took England home in the 2nd innings. The 3rd test at Calcutta was badly hampered by the weather. Gavaskar's rather strange defensive tactics meant that there was only one result possible, draw. The English batsmen did their best on the final day to provide some entertainment to the Eden crowd. And Gatting again impressed, his run a ball 48 included 4 fours and 1 six. With the series locked 1-1, the 4th test at Chennai (Madras)  became extremely important.

India approached the 4th test with great optimism. The stadium, commonly known as Chepauk, had traditionally been a lucky one for India. Even in the 60's and 70's when the Indian performances at the test level wasn't brilliant, they had normally reserved their best for Madras. Also, the return of Kapil Dev, after missing the Calcutta match due to disciplinary reasons, boosted the Indian moral. Back in 1979-80 season Kapil had produced a superb all-round display here to lead his side to a crushing 10 wicket win over the arch rivals Pakistan.

Here, though, India was on the defensive right from the go. Gavaskar's decision to bat first seemed a wrong one as India was restricted to 45/3 in the first morning. The three batsmen dismissed were Gavaskar (17), Srikknath (0) and Vengsarkar (17). The dismissal of the local boy Srikkanth for a duck was a big disappointment to the home crowd. Although he had made his test debut against England 3 seasons ago, most pundit wrote him off as a test match opener. Instead he was considered ideal for One Day game. He was a hero of India's triumph at Lord's scoring 38, the highest individual score of the match. Here, he got his chance after some strong performances at the domestic level. But, he looked extremely shaky at the middle, before edging Cowans to the keeper. Vengsarkar, too was passing through a lean period. There didn't seem any problem with his technique. But time and again, after getting a start he was throwing it away. Vengsarkar, however, would return to form in the very next match, with a hundred. Both, Vengsarkar and Gavaskar fell to the Essex Medium Pacer Foster, who was on his way to a match winning performance. Amarnath and Azharuddin did put a century partnership, but they could not put their side in command. At the end Kapil Dev stuck some lusty blows to take the Indian score to 272. The day belonged to Neal Foster, getting chance for the first time in the series, at the expense of Ellison, he finished with the superb figures of 6/104. His figures would look even more impressive if we consider the fact that apart from some early life in the morning there was nothing at the wicket for the seamers. Cowans and Cowdrey provided excellent supports, picking up two wickets each.

The Indian batsmen struggled on the first day, it was the turn of the Indian bowlers to struggle over the next two days. At the beginning of the series, much fuss was made about the poor quality of the England bowling, at the absence of Willis and Botham. The pundits overlooked the fact that the Indian bowling too was very ordinary. Kapil Dev, no doubt, was still world class, but the pitches here offered him little. Prabhakar and Chetan were inexperienced, and also lacked the venom to be a match winning bowler at the highest level. The biggest problem was with the spinners. Shastri, was then basically playing in the team as a batsman, Yadav was an English type off-spinner, happy to bowl line and length rather than trying to get the batsman. Finally, Shivarama Krishnan, the leggie, did emerge as a surprise at Mumbai, but after taking 18 wickets in the 1st two tests, he became far less effective for the reminder of the series. Gatting at Mumbai, and Robinson at Delhi, showed how to handle him, and the others soon followed their suit.

Here at Madras, on a placid pitch, they murdered the hapless Indian attack. The opening partnership of Fowler and Robinson put on 178, but that only gave a hint about the things to come. Robinson fell for 74, but then Fowler and Gatting took the score up to 419.  Both scored double hundreds, Gatting as usual, was the more aggressive one, but a few words must be said about Fowler as well. Throughout the previous summer, he had fought hard against the relentless short pitch bowling of the WI pace battery. While his technique against the short pitch bowling didn't always get the approval of the MCC coaches, at least he was determined to fight his best against the best bowling attack in the world. He was rewarded with a gritty 106 at Lord's, but unfortunately, his effort was overshadowed by the brilliant double hundred by Gordon Greenidge on the final day.

Here, in the India series, he looked good on the opening day at Mumbai, before badly misjudging a full toss from Shiva. Thus he became the first of Shiva's 12 wickets in the match. In the 2nd innings Fowler batted patiently for a fifty. But, at Delhi and at Calcutta he threw it away after looking good. Here, after overcoming the initial tension, he was determined to make his effort a memorable one, and he did it. Overall he scored 201 runs, batting for more than 9 hours. His knock included 22 flours and 3 sixes. He left the crease with England firmly in control of the match at 419/2. (Interestingly, Fowler would follow this effort with 69 and another century partnership with Robinson, at Kanpur. But, he would never play a test match again, after the India tour. Gooch would return in 1985, Chris Broad would lead England batting in the Ashes tour (1986-87) with three consecutive hundreds. Robinson and Moxon would get their chances, even Bill Athey, (basically a middle order bat) would be tried as an opener, but the selectors would never call Fowler again for test duty.

As for Gatting, his innings at Mumbai had proved to be the turning point for his whole career. Also, the job of batting at No.3 seemed to have suited him perfectly. Most importantly, he was very keen to use his feet against the slow bowlers. In his previous tour of India, he made the mistake of trying to play too often of the back-foot. Here, he corrected the mistake with great results. His mammoth innings finally came with his team's score at 599/4, his own contribution being 207. England eventually declared, early on the 4th day, at 652/7 (Decl.).

India started their 2nd innings disastrously; Neal Foster playing the match of his life accounted for Gavaskar, Srikkanth & Vengsarkar to leave the home side tottering at 22/3. The game was effectively over. Young Azharuddin batted beautifully, to show his more experienced teammates, how to bat in test matches. He top scored with 105, Amarnath was unlucky to miss his ton by just 5 runs. After them, Kirmani (75) and Kapil Dev (49) ensured that India avoided the humiliation of an innings defeat.  England eventually won by 9 wickets. Foster, ended a superb match with 11 wickets, (6/104, followed by 5/59).

India needed a victory in the final match at the Green Park, Kanpur, to level the series. Unfortunately, the Green Park didn't produce a green top. (it did during the 1979-80 season when Sikander Bakht, restricted India to 34/6 on the 1st morning of the match, on the Christmas day). Here, batsmen from both sides dominated. Azharuddin completed his 3rd hundred in his 3rd test match, scoring 122 on the 1st innings. Later he would add a quick-fire 54 of 43 balls on the final day to complete a memorable debut series for him. Unfortunately, his international career, which started so brightly, would eventually end in total disgrace.

Back to Kanpur, Jan, 1985, Vengsarkar and Srikkanth, put behind their disappointments of Chennai, with knocks of 137 and 84 respectively. Despite India's huge total of 553/8 (Decl.) on the 1st innings, the tourists were never really in any danger, as the opening pair of Fowler (69) and Robinson(96) put on 156 for first wicket. Gatting made 62, although this wasn't the vintage Gatting. Even, out of form skipper Gower got into the act, scoring 78. The draw ensured a memorable series victory for England in India. For Gatting, it was a personal triumph. He had silenced his critics in the most emphatic manner. While, some critics pointed fingers at the poor quality of Indian bowling, no one would question Gatting's temperament (or rather the lack of it) on big occasions anymore.

For Mike Gatting, the tour to India started a run of brilliant performances. A run, that would continue up to Faisalabad, 1987, and the infamous ‘Shakoor Rana' incident. During the summer of 1985, his 75* at Lord's wasn't enough to deny Australia Victory, but he later added 160 at Edgebaston, and 100* at Old Trafford. The next summer saw 183* against India and 121 aganst NZ. He finished the 1987 series against Pakistan in style, with 124 at Edgebaston and 150* at the Oval. Add his 100 at the Adelaide Oval, and 96 at SCG during the triumphant tour of Australia in the 1986-87 season, and we have one of the best bating record over the period Dec.1984-August 1987. Indeed, during this period, Gatting was considered, along with the likes of Viv Richards, Javed Miandad, Allan Border as one of the best middle-order batsmen in world cricket. Of course, his critics would point fingers to the WI tour of early 1986, when Gatting appeared in only one ODI and One test match, but, his success against Imran and Wasim during the 1987 summer, would have impressed even his hardest critic. Also, with him being still relatively young (approaching 30), it seemed that he would get ample opportunities to settle his scores with WI pace menace. But, then the ‘Shakoor Rana' incident would change the whole course of his career. Before going into that incident, I would look at two tours, the first one not very successful, the 2nd one seeing Gatting reach the zenith of his cricketing career. We will start with the ill fated England tour of the WI, early in 1986.

Following their 2-1 win in India, England won back the Ashes, in the summer, by defeating Australia 3-1. Gower, Gatting and Robinson, dominated the batting, while Richard Ellison, who was dropped from the England side, at the middle of the India tour, came back to lead the England bowling successfully in the last two matches. At this stage, the England media believed that there team was the 2nd best in the world, 2nd only to the mighty Windies. Thus the series in early 1986 was described as between the two best test teams in world cricket at the moment. Well, the thrashing 5-0 victory for the home side showed that, that if (and it was a very big if), England was the 2nd best team, then they were only a very very very distant 2nd.

The England skipper, David Gower came for special criticism, after scoring freely against the hapless Aussie bowling, in the previous summer, he failed miserably against the hostile pace of Marshall, Garner & Patterson. Opener Tim Robinson, after his successful debut in India, and equally impressive Ashes debut, suddenly found test cricket to be a different ball game altogether, as he struggled against relentless short pitch bowling. Lamb, the hero of 3 consecutive hundreds against the Windies in 1984, again tried his best, but this time he failed to convert a number of starts into scores. Inexperienced Slack and Smith had their chances, but it would have been too much to expect them to dominate the best bowling attack in the world. While Ian Botham's  sex affair with a Barbados beauty queen provided plenty of amusement for the tabloid readers, there was little good news coming from the Windies for the cricket fans in England. As for the England Vice-Captain, Mike Gatting, his tour virtually ended almost before it had started.

On 18th Feb, the two sides met in the 1st ODI at the famous Sabina Park Ground, Jamaica. Although, Micheal Holding, the national hero was missing from the WI team, two young Jamaican fast bowlers, Patterson & Walsh were in the squad, and the local curator wanted to make sure that there was plenty of juice for them in the wicket. Debutant Patterson first got into the act. After Windies captain Richards won the toss, and put the opposition in, Patterson dismissed Robinson and Gower, both for ducks, with his 4th and 8th delivery in international cricket. With England tottering at 10/2, Gatting joined Gooch and together they started to rebuild the innings. They survived the initial thunder, but the introduction of Malcolm Marshall, changed everything.

Although his face didn't show it, Marshall wasn't very happy as he came into bowl. Patterson, the new boy was given the new ball along with Joel Garner. As he came into bowl with a slightly older ball, Marshall felt the necessity to remind everyone (specially his captain Viv Richards) that he was still around. He took 4 for 23 from 10 hostile overs, his first victim was Mike Gatting. A fierce short pitch delivery broke Gatting's nose on its way to hitting the stumps. Gatting was bowled for 10, but the worst thing was that his series seemed over.

Showing great courage, he would come back two months later for the final test of the series, at the Recreation Ground at the St. John's, Antigua. The tourists were already 4-0 down, and Gatting's inclusion didn't make any difference. He made 15 and 1 as England suffered a 240 run defeat. The test is best remembered for the hurricane batting of Viv Richards in the Windies' 2nd innings. His 110 of just 58 deliveries (7 fours and 7 sixes) was a new record for the fastest test hundred (in terms of balls faced, he took 56 balls to reach his hundred).

The 1986-87 tour of Australia was altogether a happier experience, both for the England team and their skipper Mike Gatting. He had taken over the captaincy from the Gower, the previous summer. But, his debut as England captain, in the 2nd test match against India, at Headingley, was an inauspicious one. After England's defeat at Lord's (and the end of Gower's captaincy), England recalled veteran John lever (hero of England's victory at Delhi, 1976-77), in a bid to boost their pace bowling attack. As things happened, the England bowlers bowled too short, while the Indian seamers (Kapil, Binny & MadanLal) pitched the ball up and got good rewards. Dilip Vengsarkar held the Indian batting together with knocks of 61 and 102* (to follow his hundred at Lord's), as India won by 279 runs. The 2-0 series defeat against India was followed by a 1-0 reversal at the hands of the Kiwis, but things would change for the better down under.

The long tour saw England win two one day tournaments, but the greatest satisfaction from their perspective was winning the Ashes series 2-1. It was a superb team effort, the older players, Botham and Gower contributed, while the younger brigade of Broad, Dilley and Small excelled themselves. In fact, it was Ian Botham, the mercurial all-rounder who started things with his 138 in the 1st innings at Gabba. He was slow initially, but looked his usual aggressive self after completing his hindered. At one stage, he hit fast bowler Merv Hughes for 22 runs in one over. Botham also contributed with the ball, taking two late wickets to restrict Australia to only 248 in the 1st innings. But, it was Graham Dilley, the Kent fast bowler who did the biggest damage taking 5/68. Dilley had made his test debut way back in 1979, at Perth. And although he didn't take many wickets, his pace and aggressive approach impressed the Aussie pundits. In fact, like Frank Tyson and John Snow before him, he was an ‘Australian' type fast bowler playing under England colors. (And just like Tyson in 1954-55 and Snow in 1970-71, Dilley would feature prominently in England winning the Ashes down under in 1986-87)Unfortunately, back injures badly hampered his career, and he had returned in 1986 after a 3 year gap from test cricket. Here, in the Ashes tour, he bowled his hearts out and got good rewards.

The home side was forced to follow on 208 runs behind, and the game was effectively over. Off-spinner Emburey took 5 wickets as England won by 7 wickets. After high scoring draws at Perth and Adelaide, England thrashed the Aussies in the boxing day test match at the MCG. Dilley missed the match through injury, but his replacement Gladstone Small took 5/48, and Botham, the old fox, took 5/41, as the huge boxing day crowd saw Australia bowled out for only 141. England replied with 349 (Chris Broad 112, his third successive hundred in the series), and eventually England won by an innings and 14 runs. Australia redeemed themselves somewhat with their narrow, 55 run win at SCG. But, it was the summer (Australian) for Mike Gatting and his men.

As for the England captain himself, he scored exactly hundred at the placid pitch of Adelaide Oval; but it was his brilliant 96, at SCG, that impressed the pundits most. Following the heavy defeat in the boxing-day match, the Aussie selectors came for heavy criticism from the media. In desperation they tried some experiments for the last match. The decision to recall Dirk Wellham, or to use Greg Ritchie as an opener, didn't work well, (In fact for both Ritchie and Wellham, this would be their last test match), but the surprise inclusion, Peter ‘Who' Taylor impressed with 8 wickets in the match.

Bating first, the Aussies reached 343 all out, more than half the runs came from the bat of Dean Jones (184). In reply, for the first time in the series, the England top order failed. After the new ball bowlers gave the early breakthroughs, the off spinner Taylor took over taking 6/78. Australia themselves struggled the in their 2nd innings against the off spin of Emburey (7/78), but Waugh (73) and redoubtable Taylor (42) took the lead pass the 300 mark. Chasing 320, England looked out of it at 102/5. But, then Gatting took command. WK Richards hung out at the other end, as Gatting launched his counter-strike. With his quick footwork, he attacked the inexperienced spinners Taylor and Peter Sleep (a leg spinner, but no Shane Warne). For the first time in the match, the home team was under pressure. Sadly for Gatting, he fell victim to the nervous nineties. After hitting the spinners out of the ground, he fell to the gentle medium pace of Steve Waugh, ct. & b. 96. His dismissal with the score at 233/ 6 started the England collapse. Peter Sleep took 5/72, as the Aussies got their consolation victory.

It was around this period that the importance of cricket (especially one day cricket) as a TV sports became apparent. The Satellite TV channels hadn't reached the Asian viewers yet, but still the different TV Channels were showing more interest towards cricket. Greater interest meant greater earnings for the cricketer, and also a heavier schedule. In April, England,led by Emburey, won the 4 nation tournament in Sharjah. The England team was a mixture of experienced players like Gooch and Emburey with the young bloods like Neal Fairbrother, Robert Bailey, David Capel etc. The summer saw 5 tests and 3 ODIs against Pakistan (Pakistan won the test series 1-0, England the ODI Series 2-1) followed by the Lord's bicentennial match. After the England domestic season ended in early September, there was little time for the England players to rest, as the WC was scheduled to start in the subcontinent in early October.

England twice lost to Pakistan in the Group stage, but won their remaining fixtures to qualify for the semi Final against India, at the Wankhede ground at Mumbai. It was early November; in most part of the Northern Europe winter was settling in, the trees shading off their last leaves, waiting for the spring to bring sunshine, and along with it new life again. Over at Mumbai, it was extremely hot and humid. Batting first England posted 254/5, thanks mainly to the 117 run 3rd wicket stand between Gooch (115) and Gatting (56). Gatting of course enjoyed the reputation of being the finest player of spin bowling in the England camp. But, it was Gooch who surprised everyone with his aggressive batting. The rather strange tactics of the Indian left armers (Maninder Singh & Ravi Shastri) to attack the batsmen's leg stump backfired as Gooch swept almost everything. In reply India succumbed to the gentle off-spin of Eddie Hemming (4/52) to lose by 35 runs. Gooch was the obvious choice for MoM award, and Gatting's captaincy on the field received rich plaudits from the English media. It was not known to be at the time, but this would be the pinnacle of Gattings' career, both as a player, and as a captain.

Waiting for the Gatting's men, at Calcutta, were the Aussies led by Allan Border. They went in to the final as the favorites, after upsetting Imran Khan's men at Lahore in the first SF. Yet, in early afternoon England had the initiative with them as Athey and Gatting took the score to 135/2, chasing 257 for victory. But, then, Gatting attempted his infamous reverse sweep against Border's gentle left arm spin, a shot that was completely unnecessary at that point of time. Gatting only succeeded in top-edging it to the keeper Dyer, who gleefully accepted the catch. Athey made 58, but took too many deliveries, and the late flurry by Lamb and Defreitas couldn't deny the Aussies a 9 run victory. Despite this setback, Gatting's position as England's captain and a leading batsman in world cricket, remained intact; within the next few weeks would come the ‘Shakoor Rana' incident to change everything.

Just 10 days after the Eden final, England started a 3 match ODI series in Pakistan. They won the series 3-0, but no one on either camp seemed to bother about it. Both the players and the spectators seemed to have become bored from the overdose of cricket. Also, to plan this tour, just months after the long tour by the Pakistan side to England, was a wrong one. Still, the 3 match test series started in late November.

Pakistan, as expected won the first test at Lahore by a huge margin. Abdul Qadir took 13 wickets including 9/56 on the first day, as England lost by an innings.  Now, almost everybody agreed that, despite the absence of their charismatic captain, Imran Khan, (who had retired from international cricket, but would return later that season), Pakistan were the stronger side, at least on a slow turning track, and they were the deserved winners at Lahore. Yet, some poor umpiring decisions during the match angered the supporters of both the teams. The England fans felt that some of their players were denied fair opportunities. While the Pak fans felt that by giving some poor decisions, on favor of the home team, the umpires were actually undermining their own players' ability. It was amidst such controversy that the 2nd test began at Faisalabad, on 7th December.

Gatting won the toss and decided to bat on the 1st day. At this stage, his main concern was improving the England batting. And, like all good captains he led his team by example. In fact, his 79 from just 81 deliveries, with 14 fours, has to go down as one of this best innings ever; especially if we consider the situation and given that Qadir, at that time was the undisputed no.1 spin bowler in world cricket. Broad (116) played in a more sedate manner. But, it was an important innings for him as well. Despite his hundreds in three consecutive tests of the Ashes tour, there were still pundits who questioned his ability to handle spin bowling. Here, he silenced his critics in an emphatic manner.

A spectacular collapse saw England restricted to 292 all out from 241/2, as Qadir and Qasim took control. But, then the England bowlers hit back restricting the home side to 77/5 at one stage. The two Maliks, Salim and Aamer (no relations between them) were at the wicket. Aamer, though, he was brought into the side (to make his debut), as a replacement for Wasim Akram, was basically a batsman who could bowl a bit of medium pace. (Later he also kept wickets for Pakistan). He hung in at one end, while Salim did the scoring. They took the score up to 105/5, when the unfortunate incident started.

Despite the resistance shown by the Maliks, England was still in command. Gatting reckoned one more wicket before the end would be great for his side. He was constantly talking with his bowlers, was changing the field, in his bid to get that extra wicket. It was in this situation that, Shakoor Rana, standing at square leg at the time, misunderstood a signal by Gatting towards a fielder in the deep, and called the whole England team a cheat. Now, this kind of behavior, though unwanted, wasn't unprecedented in cricket arena. The proper action for the England captain would have been to inform the tour management about Mr. Rana's comment, who (possibly after a discussion with TCCB in London) would have decided whether or not to lodge an official complain to PCB. Unfortunately, Gatting at that time wasn't in the best frame of mind. As stated earlier, he, and a few other players of the England team had been playing cricket, virtually non-stop for more than a year. This tour had started in autumn. The month long WC had seen teams move from one corner of the vast subcontinent to another. Long air travels, different weather patterns, had many players jaded. Many like Gatting, would have been happier spending time with their family, preparing for the holiday season. More frustration came due to poor umpiring, and here, on the late afternoon of the 2nd day, hearing the comment of Mr. Rana, Gatting decided to act right there at the field. For the next few minutes, the TV viewers saw angry exchange of words and signs by the umpire and the England captain.

More drama, unfolded the next morning, umpire Shakoor Rana declined to take any further part in the match without receiving an unconditional apology from the England captain. Now, this put the tour officials (Peter Lush and Micky Stewart0 into a real dilemma. Although, initially they had stood beside their captain, at the end they forced Gatting to apologize, after getting their instructions from London. To be fair to TCCB and the tour management, the only other option available to them was to cancel the tour altogether at this stage. The tour went on, unhappily of course, but the Faisalabad test was effectively dead. A request by the England team to use the rest day, to make up for the lost 3rd day, was rejected by the Pak board. And although, play resumed some 35 minutes after the scheduled start on the 4th day, rain and bad light intervened to make sure that England couldn't press home their advantage.

The unhappy tour ended following another drawn test, (at Karachi). So, the home side won the test series 1-0. Later in the season, Gatting led England to a tour of NZ where all the 3 tests ended in draws.

Although he remained the England captain, his fans started to notice changes in him. He was no longer the happy chap that he normally was. It affected his performance with the bat as well. Specially those (like us), who had followed his progress since Mumbai 1984, with great interest could easily discern a lack of interest in the game in his part. For Mike Gatting, the end had just begun.

The beginning of the End (1988-89): Although TCCB, the ruling body of cricket in England, were critical of Gatting's behavior on the 2nd day at Faisalabad, the selectors were unanimous that he was the best man to lead England. So, when the WI side arrived in England in the summer of 1988, he was the obvious choice for England captaincy. Things started well enough, as England won the ODI series 3-0. The test series, however, was always likely to be a different ball game. Things would go wrong for the England captain in the very first test.

England finished the 4th day of this rain affected match at 67/1 on their 2nd innings, and were needing to bat out the final day to avoid a 11th successive test defeat against the Windies (They eventually achieved their goal thanks to Gooch (146) and Gower (88*)). The morning newspaper on the 5th day, however, concentrated less on the action on the field, but more on the time Gatting had spent with a waitress on the previous evening. Now, this unlike the ‘Shakoor Rana' incident was  purely a private matter. Still, the tabloids in England made a big fuss about it. With Botham gradually drifting out of the international scene, they needed other international cricketers to provide with stories. So, Gatting again made the headlines for the wrong reason. This time he lost his captaincy. After missing the 2nd test, at Lord's, he returned for the 3rd match at Old Trafford. There England, under Emburey, lost by an innings and 156 runs. England was bowled out for 135 and 93. Gatting's own contributions were 0 and 4, out to his old foe Marshall on both occasions. In fact, his first innings dismissal was almost a replay of his Lord's dismissal 4 years earlier, padding up offering no stroke, and watching the ball cut back and hitting his pad. 

Gatting didn't feature in the remaining international fixtures of the season, as the selectors tried a number of youngsters (with little success) in a bid to re-build the England team. One good thing from Gatting's point of view was that this gave him a much needed break from the international scene. With England scheduled to tour India in the winter, Gatting must have been looking forward to getting his career back on the right track again on the sun-baked pitches of the subcontinent. Unfortunately, the Indian authorities cancelled the tour alleging the involvement of some members of the England team with the cricket in South Africa. So, Gatting had to wait for the following Ashes summer for his return.

In fact, Gatting was the man the selectors would have loved to have as the captain. He had impressed everybody with his leadership in the 86-87 tour down under. Unfortunately, the selectors also feared about the negative media response to Gatting's possible appointment. At the end they went for David Gower. Gower was extremely popular, but his captaincy record apart from a brief period in 1984-85 was abysmal. Gatting played in the 2nd test at Lord's; and failed again, (0 and 22). He missed the 3rd test at Edgebaston due to family reasons, and the selectors gave a surprise recall to veteran Chris Tavare as his replacement. It was around this time the news of a planned rebel tour of England players to South Africa in 1990 was revealed by the media. Gatting would be the captain, and the team would include the likes of Broad, Emburey, Foster, Ellison, French, Tim Robinson etc. The ‘rebels' were banned from international cricket, and many felt this to be the end of Gatting's road. Yet, there would be another twist, this time it would be in his favor.

The Pretoria government would cancel its apartheid policy in autumn 1991, thus paving the road for instant return of SA cricket team in the international arena. The rebels would also get a chance to return, not instantly, but after serving a 3 year ban. So, Gatting, along with twice-rebel Emburey and pace bowler Paul Jarvis would return for the 1993 tour of India and SL. 15 years after his first tour of the subcontinent, Gatting would return there again hoping to rebuild his international career.

The Return and The End (1993-95): Gatting was delighted to be recalled for the India tour, early in 1993. But, it didn't turn out to be a happy tour, neither for him, nor for the England team. In fact, Gatting perhaps set the tone for England's disaster, as on his 1st innings of the series, very late on the 2nd day's play at the Eden Gardens, he dragged a harmless delivery bowled by debutant off spinner Rajesh Chauhan onto his stumps. He scored 33 and 81 at the Eden. But, that was just about it for him in the test series. 2 and 19 at Chennai, 23 and 61 at Mumbai, and 29 and 18 at Colombo (against SL) showed that he was unable to convert starts into scores. Still, he was in the England team at the start of the Ashes series, but a young leggie, called Shane Warne was waiting eagerly to destroy Gatting and the rest of the England batting.

 The rain affected first day of the series saw Australia waste a century opening start, and they were eventually bowled out on the 2nd day for just 289. Off Spinner Such getting prodigious turn on the wet wicket to take 6/67. In reply, Gooch-Atherton put on 71, before Hughes had Atherton ct. behind. Gatting came to the wicket and opened his account with a boundary. That, however, would be his only scoring shot of the innings. Shane Warne came on to bowl, and his first ball pitched outside Gatting's leg-stump and turned enough to hit the top of the off-stump. A bewildered Gatting left the wicket, bowled by ‘the ball of the century'. He became the first of the long list of English batsmen to be dismissed by the Aussie hero. After this came knocks of 23,5 and 59, and he was out of the team. But, to every one's surprise, Gatting, along with Gooch, was included in the Ashes tour of 1994-95. This however, would be the end for Gatting. He played in all five tests, but his only notable contribution was 117 in the first innings at the Adelaide Oval (4th test). Even this effort was a struggle, his innings took almost 7 hours. In his last test, at WACA, he disappointed his fans, scoring just 0 and 8.

The most interesting aspect of his test career was his battles against the spinners, specially the leg spinners. Leg spinner Qadir, was the first bowler to dismiss Gatting, in a test match. Qadir trapped him leg before for 5 at Karachi in Jan, 1978. After making his debut, at Lahore in the 1st test, Qadir showed his class by taking 6/44 at Hyderabad (Sind) in the 2nd match. But, like Gatting, he too would take time to settle himself in the test arena. It was only after the tour of England in the summer of 1982, that he became a permanent feature of the Pak team. Gatting, however, would take his revenge against Qadir a decade later. First, he would make 124 at Edgebaston, but even more impressive was his 150* on the final day at the Oval, to save the test match against Pakistan in 1987. He shared an unbeaten century stand with Ian Botham (who looked unusually subdued during his knock of 51*) to nullify the threat of Qaidr. Qadir was almost unplayable in the first innings. With the Oval wicket providing him with turn, pace and bounce he took 7/96 to destroy the England batting. He threatened to do the same in the 2nd innings, taking 3 quick wickets before Gatting and Botham came together. Qadir again showed his class taking 13 wickets at Lahore in November. But, Gatting's brilliant 79 at Faisalabad showed that at least one Englishmen could handle him. Unfortunately, Gatting's batting effort was overshadowed by the ‘Shakoor Rana' incident.

In Nov. 1984, Laxman ShivaramaKrishnan twice dismissed Gatting at Mumbai on his way to a match-winning haul of 12 wickets. Gatting, however had scored a brilliant hundred in the 2nd innings to show that Shiva didn't possess any mystery. Soon, Robinson and Fowler followed Gatting's suit, and together the top 3 English batsmen tamed the threat of Shiva. Shiva's rather in-disciplined life-style, combined with negative attitudes of the Indian selectors meant that Shiva's international career would be over very soon. He is now a very distinguished cricket commentator.

Kumble, made his mark during the 1992-93 season, and enjoyed a considerably lengthier international career.  Kumble, of course, was not a conventional leg-spinner. He very seldom turned the ball any great deal away from the right hander. Instead, he generally depended on his top spin and change of pace to deceive the batsmen. Curious developments took place on the final day of the final test at Mumbai. As Kumble had emerged over the season as the best spinning talent of India for more than a decade, he was invariably compared with the great Chandrashekar. Some of the old-timers however, were a bit critical of Kumble, saying that they thought Kumble didn't turn the ball enough. As if to make a point to the pundits, Kumble bowled more like a normal leg spinner on the morning of the final day of the Mumbai test. He was getting more turn, but was considerably slower in pace. Ironically, the two batsmen at the wicket Gatting (61) & Smith (62) were playing him with relative ease at this stage. Soon, Kumble abandoned his experiment, went back to his normal self with devastating effect. Robin Smith was bowled by a fast top spinner, Chauhan had Gatting stumped, and the England resistance ended tamely.

Shane Warne,'The daddies of them all' gained an early psychological advantage over Gatting (and the rest of the English batsmen) with his ‘ball of the Century' at Old Trafford. Although, the England selectors gave Gatting a chance in the Ashes tour of 1994-95, Gatting struggled in the Australian pitches; scoring a patient hundred at the Adelaide Oval, but overall he failed to make any mark on his final series. He looked extremely cautious against Warne, unwilling to use his feet. Whether it was because he no longer possessed the nimble footwork of his youth anymore, or whether it was due to some psychological factor, can only be a matter of conjecture. One feels, it possibly was a combination of both, that made Gatting so subdued against the champion Leggie.

Finally, a word or two should be said about his family. Gatting was a natural athlete, a fact which was often missed due to his rather heavy appearance. On the field, he often showed himself to be deceptively quick. His natural athleticism had something to with his family's strong connection with different sports. His brother Steve Gatting led the Brighton side in the FA Cup final against ManU in 1983. Brighton fought bravely to get a 2-2 draw, but then were badly beaten 4-0 in the replay. Sadly for Brighton, they were also relegated from the top flight the same season. Gatting (Steve) made more than 300 appearances for Brighton, before ending his career with Oldham Athletic in 1993. Earlier, during the 1978-79 season he was a regular with Arsenal , but missed their cup final victory over ManU.

Steve's son, Joe Gatting has been following the footsteps of both his father and uncle. After some encouraging performances with the Brighton Youth team, his progress as a professional footballer became rather slow. He has left Albion and currently he is playing football only on a part time basis, instead concentrating more on his cricket career with Sussex. Already a number of impressive performances in domestic cricket have seen his name mentioned as a possible England international for the future. Mike Gatting may have retired, but the relation of his family with English cricket seems to be growing with time. It would be too early to predict the future of young Joe, but if it turns out to be anything like his uncle's, then it would be worth writing about it, perhaps, some twenty years from now.

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