Graham Gooch

Graham Gooch

OBE DL
Gooch in 1997
Personal information
Full name
Graham Alan Gooch
Born (1953-07-23) 23 July 1953 (age 71)
Whipps Cross, Essex, England
NicknameZap,[1] Goochie
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleOpening Batsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 461)10 July 1975 v Australia
Last Test3 February 1995 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 34)26 August 1976 v West Indies
Last ODI10 January 1995 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1973–1997Essex
1982/83–1983/84Western Province
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 118 125 581 614
Runs scored 8,900 4,290 44,846 22,211
Batting average 42.58 36.98 49.01 40.16
100s/50s 20/46 8/23 128/217 44/139
Top score 333 142 333 198*
Balls bowled 2,655 2,066 18,785 14,314
Wickets 23 36 246 310
Bowling average 46.47 42.11 34.37 31.15
5 wickets in innings 0 0 3 1
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 3/39 3/19 7/14 5/8
Catches/stumpings 103/– 45/– 555/– 261/–
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  England
ICC Cricket World Cup
Runner-up 1979 England
Runner-up 1987 India and Pakistan
Runner-up 1992 Australia and New Zealand
Source: CricInfo, 7 December 2007

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.[2] His List A cricket tally of 22,211 runs is also a record.[3] In 1992, he became the first cricketer to lose 3 finals of the Cricket World Cup and is currently the only such player.[4] 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 runners-up at the 1987 Cricket World Cup and as runners-up at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Internationally, despite being banned for three years following a rebel tour to ostracized South Africa, Gooch is the third highest Test run scorer for England. His playing years spanned much of the period of domination by the West Indies, against whom his mid-forties batting average is regarded as extremely creditable. His score of 154 against them at Headingley in 1991 is regarded as one of the greatest centuries of all time by many critics and former players. His career-best score of 333 was against India at Lord's. In that match, he also scored a century in the second innings, 123, for a match total of 456, which remains the highest aggregate in a test match. He was the first player to make 20 Test appearances at Lord's. As captain, Matthew Engel noted, "his fanatical fitness and work-ethic gave the team more purpose than it had shown in a decade."[5]

After 118 Tests, aged 42, he retired into coaching and as team selector, before becoming a commentator. In 2009 he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[6] He returned to coach Essex, before becoming England batting coach in 2012.[5]

  1. ^ Viner, Brian (7 August 2000). "Stewie, Athers, Crofty and Hicky fail to stir imagination". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Records / Combined First-class, List A and Twenty20 / Batting records / Most runs in career". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  3. ^ "10,000 years or More Runs in List A Matches". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  4. ^ "WC Cricket: Graham Gooch lost 3 World Cup finals in 3 different decades". 3 August 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Player Profile: Graham Gooch". ESPN CricInfo. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  6. ^ "Benaud, Gooch, Compton, Larwood and Woolley inducted into Cricket Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 12 September 2012.