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| Full name | Michael Andrew Atherton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1968-03-23)23 March 1968 (age 57) Failsworth,Lancashire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Athers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right armleg break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Opening batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Josh de Caires (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | http://www.mikeatherton.co.uk/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 538) | 10 August 1989 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 27 August 2001 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 108) | 18 July 1990 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 20 August 1998 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1989 | Cambridge University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–2001 | Lancashire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:ESPNcricinfo,1 September 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael Andrew AthertonOBE (born 23 March 1968)[1] is a broadcaster, journalist and a former England internationalcricketer. A right-handed opening batsman forLancashire andEngland, and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the captaincy of England at the age of 25 and led the side in a then record 54Test matches.[2] Known for his stubborn resistance during an era of hostilefast bowling, Atherton was described in 2001 as a determined defensive opener who made "batting look like trench warfare".[3] He had several famed bouts with bowlers includingSouth Africa'sAllan Donald[4] andAustralia'sGlenn McGrath.[5] Atherton often played the anchor role at a time when England batting performances lacked consistency.[3]
His playing career included controversy, includingball tampering, and several brushes with the media with whom, by Atherton's own admission, he did not have a good understanding when he was a player.[3] Often hampered by a chronic back complaint which was to contribute to the end of his career, Atherton was considered a leading England batsman during the 1990s. Following retirement he became a journalist and is a cricket commentator withSky Sports, and chief cricket correspondent ofThe Times.
Atherton was born inFailsworth,Lancashire, England.[3] His family includes several known sportspeople, such as his father Alan,[6] a formerManchester United reservecentral defender in the 1960s.[7]
As a youth, he captained theManchester Grammar School cricket team, for whom he scored almost 3,500 runs and took 170 wickets.[8] His performances led to selection for the England under-19 team, which he captained aged 16. He also representedLancashire Schools from 1982 to 1986.[9] In 1983 he won theJack Hobbs Memorial Award as the Outstanding Schoolboy Cricketer at under-15 level. In a (non-first-class) match against theMarylebone Cricket Club in 1984 he took 6–27.[10]
EnteringDowning College, Cambridge, to read History, he was selected at 18 to play forCambridge University Cricket Club and awarded ablue.[11] A year later he made 73 on his county debut forLancashire, scoring his maiden first-class hundred againstDerbyshire a fortnight later.[12] During this time he represented his university, theCombined Universities cricket team (which he captained to the quarter finals of theBenson & Hedges Cup in1989) and his county.[13] This early rise through the ranks, and extensive leadership experience earned him the nickname "FEC", which is thought to have stood for "future England captain". In his autobiographyOpening Up, Atherton is candid about the fact that there are more colourful alternatives for "FEC"; the second word being "educated"; as suggested by his teammates at the time.[14]
Atherton's heady rise continued when he made his debut for England in the fifth test of 1989 againstAustralia atTrent Bridge, where he scored 0 and 47.[15] Atherton's chance came when several England players announced their decision to go on arebel tour to South Africa and so were banned from the Test team. Despite these defections, he was selected as vice-captain of the 1989–90 A-team tour toZimbabwe rather than for theWest Indies tour. He learned that he would make his debut when captainDavid Gower threw a plastic bag of England caps and sweaters at him.[16]
Atherton returned to the England side in the summer of 1990, partneringGraham Gooch at the top of the order and giving the first demonstration of his abilities at international level. In his first innings after recall, and his first opening the batting for England, he scored 151 againstNew Zealand.[17] He shared an opening partnership of 204 with Gooch againstIndia at Lord's, in the match famous for Gooch's scores of 333 and 123,[18] as well as further big opening partnerships in the next two Tests,[19] and Test centuries againstNew Zealand and India earned him the title of Young Cricketer of the Year.
During the winter of 1990–91, Atherton faced a sterner test onthe Ashes tour of Australia. Although he made a century in the third Test atSydney, which would prove to be his only century in an Ashes Test, he averaged just 31 for his 279 runs, andEngland lost 3–0. Atherton struggled againstthe West Indies in 1991 and missed the1992 Cricket World Cup andtour of New Zealand with fitness problems, but was recalled to the Test team in the summer of 1992.
When Australia arrived for the1993 Ashes series, Atherton's place in the team was not assured. However, a consistent summer, during which he scored six 50s in six Tests (including 99 atLord's), cemented his place in the side at a fortunate time. Graham Gooch, frustrated by continual losses against Australia, resigned as captain after the fourth Test and Atherton, aged just 25, replaced him. He lost his first match in charge but England managed to beat Australia in a morale-boosting final Test; England had not beaten Australia in the previous 18 Test matches.[20]
Atherton's first tour as captain, to theWest Indies inthe winter of 1993–94, was not a success as England lost 3–1. This was a series of highs and lows:Brian Lara of the West Indies compiled a world-record 375 against them atAntigua; England were bowled out for 46 to lose the third Test (and with it the series) but then roared back atBridgetown to win the fourth Test thanks to two centuries fromAlec Stewart. For his part, Atherton was the best of the English batsmen, scoring 510 runs at an average of 56.67.
Earning plaudits for his determination and leadership, Atherton followed up with two centuries in thethree-match series at home against New Zealand. His reputation suffered a blow when he was implicated in aball-tampering controversy during the first Test against South Africa at Lord's, for which he was fined £2,000 byRay Illingworth. Atherton was accused of lying toPeter Burge, the match referee. Atherton claims in his autobiography that he answered "no" when asked if he had anything in his pockets. He believed that Burge was referring to nefarious substances such as resin or lip salve. Nonetheless the TV pictures were damning, showing Atherton deliberately putting dirt, taken from the pitch, on the ball. Strictly speaking, Atherton was not breaking thelaws – he pointed out that plenty of bowlers improve their grip on the ball by rubbing their hands on the pitch.[21]
After this incident Atherton and England headed toHeadingley for the second Test. Atherton played one of his best innings, grinding out 99 before being caught and bowled byBrian McMillan. Atherton stated that this innings was the best answer he could have given to the "gutter press". He led England to a win in the third Test atthe Oval, which tied the series, although he failed to score a century.
After winning against South Africa, Atherton faced the supreme test of his leadership:an Ashes tour to Australia. His form stood well, with 407 runs at 40.7, but he was unable to convert any of his four half-centuries in the Test series into a hundred. Although England had a thrilling win atAdelaide, England's first Test victory in Australia for eight years, the team stumbled to a 1–3 loss. There was also controversy in the drawnSydney test when England'sGraeme Hick was approaching what would have been his onlyAshes Test hundred. According toWisden: "In what was thought to be the last-but-one over of the innings, Hick, on 98, blocked three successive balls, and Atherton lost patience and ungenerously declared; he had batted far more slowly himself".[22]
The next two years followed a similar pattern. Although a draw ina Test series against the West Indies in 1995 and victory in Test series at home againstIndia and away againstNew Zealand suggested that England were improving, the team continued to struggle against the talent of Australia andPakistan. Although Atherton led England to victory in the first test of the1997 Ashes atBirmingham, England's only victory in an Ashes Test that was not adead rubber between 1986 and 2005, England lost the series 3-2. England also crashed out of the1996 Cricket World Cup after defeat to eventual championsSri Lanka, controversy also ensuing during this tournament after a defeat when Atherton's irritated observation about a local journalist was picked up on tape.[23] The lack of consistent progress and the effect of a back ailment contributed to Atherton's decision to resign after five years ascaptain aftera defeat in the West Indies in 1997-8.
Atherton continued to play Test cricket for a further four years before retiring at the end of the2001 Ashes. However, plagued by his chronic back condition, he did not manage to attain his previous levels of performance. Highlights of his later career however includedman of the match-winning Test centuries atthe Oval andKarachi in 2000, in Tests which ensured England rare Test series victories respectively against the West Indies (their first for 31 years),[24] and Pakistan (their first for 18 years).[25]
Atherton's finest performances came when he had his back against the wall. Notable examples include his monumental 185 not out in 643 minutes to salvage a draw against South Africa,[26][27] and his negation of an outstandingAllan Donald onslaught in 1998.[28][29] This doggedness promptedSteve Waugh to dub him "The Cockroach",[30] but his record against Australia was modest. He averaged under thirty, with only one century in 33 tests.[31] and he was dismissed 19 times byGlenn McGrath, the Australian opening bowler, a record for any bowler against one batsman.[32]
Alongside McGrath, two other world-class bowlers frequently tormented Atherton, with Courtney Walsh dismissing him seventeen times and Shane Warne ten times. As well as being seen as struggling against the very best, Atherton had the dubious honour of having the lowest batting average of any player to have scored 6,000 or more runs inTest cricket at the time of his retirement. He was also dismissed for nought on twenty occasions at Test level, which was an English record at the time of his retirement.[33]
During his career Atherton made eighteencenturies in international cricket, sixteen of which were scored in Test matches while the other two came in One Day Internationals. In Tests, thirteen of his centuries came in the first innings and three in the second innings.
| No. | Score | Against | Pos. | Inn. | ODI | Venue | H/A/N | Date | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 127 |  West Indies | 1 | 1 | 3/3 | Lord's, London | Home | 28 May 1995 | Win | [52] |
| 2 | 113not out |  Australia | 1 | 2 | 2/3 | The Oval, London | Home | 24 May 1997 | Win | [53] |
Since his retirement from the game, Atherton has carved out a successful career in the media. He was a journalist forThe Sunday Telegraph and succeededChristopher Martin-Jenkins asThe Times cricket correspondent on 1 May 2008.[54]
Between 2002 and 2005, he was a member of theChannel 4 commentary team for the coverage of Test cricket in England. During this period he also worked as a commentator forBBC Radio andTalksport on Test matches outside England. Atherton joined theSky Sports commentary team in 2005, after they won the rights to live Test cricket in England, joining long-time England teammateNasser Hussain, their former England coachDavid "Bumble" Lloyd and former England captainDavid Gower. He commentates on all forms of the game, home and abroad, as well as covering some domestic matches. He often performs as the post-match master of ceremonies for internationals in England, presenting awards and interviewing players.
In 2002 he produced his autobiography:Opening Up. He has also writtenGambling: A Story of Triumph and Disaster, published in 2006.
In March 2010, he wonSports Journalist of the Year, at theBritish Press Awards. The judges announced this was "a unanimous choice", praised the former England cricket captain for "tackling subjects way beyond cricket" and said "the brilliance of his writing shines."[55] He was named the Sports Writer of the Year by theSports Journalists' Association in 2009 and 2011.[56]
He was one of the commentators in2011 Cricket World Cup. He has gained fame for his no nonsense but dryly humorous views on cricket.[citation needed]
Atherton is married to Isabelle De Caires (granddaughter of West Indies test cricketerFrank De Caires), hailing from Guyana. Atherton's elder son,Josh de Caires, signed a professional contract withMiddlesex in 2020, and made his first-class debut for Middlesex in July 2021.[57]
Atherton has nosense of smell, something his family first noticed when he was 6 or 7. He has no memory of ever having this sense, but did not think about this until theCOVID-19 pandemic, when there was much discussion of sufferers losing their sense of smell, and he wondered what he was missing. He thinks this may affect his taste, but takes the view that if one is going to lose one sense, smell is the one to lose.[58]
Atherton suffers from the degenerative conditionankylosing spondylitis, which meant he could not duck under bouncers, but had to stand tall and sway out of the way. Allan Donald used this against him by bowling short.[59][60]
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | English national cricket captain 1993–1998 | Succeeded by |
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Dermot Reeve was called up as an injury replacement. | ||
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| National | |
