Michael Atherton, the England opener Steve Waugh nicknamed The Cockroach
Facing South Africa in 1995, Michael Atherton batted for 643 minutes to finish on 185 not out and save a Test. That kind of stubbornness led Steve Waugh to call him The Cockroach. Made England captain at 25, he led the side in a then-record 54 Tests before turning into an award-winning writer.
Born in Failsworth, Lancashire, in 1968, the son of a former Manchester United reserve defender, Atherton captained England's under-19 side at 16. At Cambridge, where he read History, he won a blue at 18, then scored 73 on his Lancashire debut. Teammates dubbed him FEC, supposedly future England captain, though his autobiography admits cruder readings. His Test debut in 1989 at Trent Bridge came partly because several players had joined a rebel tour to South Africa; captain David Gower told him by tossing him a plastic bag of caps and sweaters. Recalled in 1990, he opened with Graham Gooch and scored 151 against New Zealand.
When Gooch resigned during the 1993 Ashes, Atherton took over. His reign mixed defiance and defeat: England lost in the West Indies, where Brian Lara hit a world-record 375 and England were once bowled out for 46, yet rallied to win in Bridgetown. In 1994 he was fined £2,000 over a ball-tampering row at Lord's, then answered critics with 99 at Headingley. His England won in Adelaide and at Birmingham in 1997, but kept losing Ashes series.
Grinding defence against hostile pace defined him, and so did his famous duels. Glenn McGrath dismissed him 19 times, Courtney Walsh seventeen and Shane Warne ten. Against Australia he averaged under thirty with one century in 33 Tests, and at retirement he held the lowest average of anyone with 6,000 Test runs and an English record of twenty ducks. He still made 16 Test hundreds, including match-winners at the Oval and Karachi in 2000 that sealed rare series wins. A chronic back complaint shadowed him until he quit after the 2001 Ashes.
Off the field he has thrived. He commentated for Channel 4 before joining Sky Sports in 2005, became cricket correspondent of The Times in 2008, and in March 2010 took the top sports-writing prize at the British Press Awards, the judges praising writing that ranged well beyond cricket.
Source: Michael Atherton
