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Full name Graham Alan Gooch
Born July 23, 1953, Whipps Cross, Leytonstone, Essex
Current age 55 years 29 days
Major teams England, Essex, Western Province
Nickname Zap, Goochie
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Other Coach, Commentator
Height 6 ft 0 in
Education Norlington Junior High School, Leytonstone

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

118

215

8900

333

42.58

18075

49.23

1079

103

ODIs

125

122

4290

142

36.98

6932

61.88

First-class

581

990

44846

333

49.01

128

217

555

List A

614

601

22211

198*

40.16

139

261

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

118

2655

1069

3/39

5/69

46.47

2.41

115.4

ODIs

125

2066

1516

3/19

42.11

4.40

57.3

First-class

581

18785

8457

246

7/14

34.37

2.70

76.3

List A

614

14308

9657

310

5/8

31.15

4.04

46.1

Career statistics

Test debut

England v Australia at Birmingham, Jul 10-14, 1975 scorecard

Last Test

Australia v England at Perth, Feb 3-7, 1995 scorecard

Test statistics

ODI debut

England v West Indies at Scarborough, Aug 26, 1976 scorecard

Last ODI

Australia v England at Melbourne, Jan 10, 1995 scorecard

ODI statistics

First-class span

1973 - 2000

List A span

1973 - 1997

Graham Gooch was the most prolific run scorer top-class cricket has ever seen. After he retired in 1997, the statistician Robert Brooke calculated that he had scored 21,087 in one-day cricket at first-class level, which added to his 44,841 first-class runs, put him ahead of Jack Hobbs. It was an amazing achievement, especially for a man who gave the impression that he was constantly on the brink of walking out in disgust. His enigmatic qualities seemed almost cultivated. When England first plucked him out of Essex, as a 21-year-old in 1975, Gooch was an uninhibited belter of a cricket ball. Armed with one of the game's heaviest bats, he could always wallop it when he chose, but the inhibitions grew. In his case, they made him a more rounded player and perhaps the ultimate professional. In the 1980s Gooch was often where the action wasn't: he was banned for three years for leading the first rebel tour to South Africa, a decision he never adequately explained, perhaps even to himself. Even when unbanned, he was often refusing to tour and threatening to come home. England made him captain only because there was no one else, but his fanatical fitness and work-ethic gave the team more purpose than it had shown in a decade. Approaching 40, he kept getting better as a batsman and ever more mysterious: his marriage was believed to be cricket's happiest until he walked out on it. Even after retirement, his career took a surprise turn: earmarked as English cricket's supremo, he was bombed out as coach and selector and became a broadcaster, with a sly wit that surprised those who had seen only his poker face and his broad bat.
Matthew Engel October 2004

Jan 9, 2008

Graham Gooch strikes out on return from a bicep injury © XXXX Gold

Jan 9, 2008

Graham Gooch celebrates a second successive regional final win © XXXX Gold

Jul 21, 2007

The ticket for England-India Lord's Test of 2007 carries a wagon wheel of Graham Gooch's 333 © Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

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