With the first Ashes test just around the corner, Sport.co.uk went to talk to Mike Gatting (the man with the biggest hands and forearms in cricket!) If you want his opinion on team selection, Michael Vaughan’s retirement, and who would win in a drinking contest between him and Flintoff, then read on…..
The major question regarding team selection for Cardiff is whether to play two spinners or not. If we do, who do you think should play alongside Graeme Swann?
If the weather stays like this and Cardiff is bathed in sun, then we should definitely consider playing two spinners. Which two out of Panesar and Rashid is difficult. Monty has excellent Test pedigree and a good track record against the Aussies, but he has had a poor season. Playing Rashid would be more of a gamble but he does do two other things a lot better than Monty in his batting and fielding, so it will be a tough call. I think that the management might possibly err on Monty’s side to start with.
Still talking about our bowling attack, do you think that Harmison should have been included in the squad considering his recent county form?
No I don’t think he should have been because there are many others who deserve to be there. Graham Onions bowled fantastically against the West Indies and he is a young lad desperate to play for his country. Harmison has had his chances, and if there are any injuries then I would hope that Steve would be willing to have another go and try to put a few wrongs to right.
In the T20 tournament we saw some excellent glove work from Foster. Were you surprised he wasn’t part of the squad?
The selectors seem to have set their stool out in Prior after he batted excellently against the West Indies. There is the continuing battle over whether to have a wicketkeeper-batsman or a batsman-wicketkeeper. Prior is certainly a batter who keeps wicket, whereas Foster has turned himself into a very competent batter scoring three hundreds at the end of last season for Essex. So it is another difficult decision, but I think Prior is the better man for the job.
If Prior plays, do you think that relieves the pressure on Kevin Pietersen to know there is depth in our batting line up? Because it seems that sometimes the team rely on Pietersen too much?
Pietersen’s role is to get as many runs as he can! There are five other batsmen in the team and successful teams don’t rely on any one player. KP is a guy who can destroy bowling attacks and he is an incredibly talented cricketer. Strauss has showed recently that he is capable of taking responsibility with the bat; Cook looks like he is back in good knick; Ravi Bopara scored two hundreds against the West Indies; so there are other batsmen in there who seem to be prepared to share the responsibility with Pietersen, and I hope that Strauss will ram that point home. For me, I would like to see Pietersen score a double hundred against Australia because he is definitely capable.
So what do you think our starting IX in Cardiff should be?
Strauss, Cook, Bopara, Pietersen, Collingwood, Prior, Flintoff, Swann, Broad, Panesar, Anderson with Onions as 12th man.
There have been lots of changes in the England captaincy over the past few years. As an ex-captain yourself, what kind of qualities do you think are needed?
Captaincy is about man-management more than anything else. Obviously you have to be a competent captain, but you also need the people there to carry out what you want, and this involves having quality players. It doesn’t matter how well laid out the plans are if the players can’t carry them out. I think the most important thing is to work with the people in your team, helping them to relax which will hopefully get the best out of them.
Do you think that England would benefit from having the same captain for all forms of the game like most other international teams?
It depends really whether the captain is comfortable. Strauss is obviously not comfortable playing T20, which I think for the time being, is a slightly different game. Therefore if he feels happier concentrating on the 50 over game and Tests which means we need another captain for T20 then fine.
Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan has just announced his retirement from cricket, what do you think of this?
Very sad. For me I would have liked to see him play for Yorkshire for a few more years, and I’m sure the Yorkshire youngsters could have benefitted from his experience both as an international batsman and as a captain. I hope that Michael will work within the England set-up so he can continue to pass on the knowledge and understanding that he has of the game.
Considering that Australia have lost a lot of their key players from the last Ashes, do England now stand a greater chance in this series?
I think that for the first time in a long time we just pip them on the spin department which we haven’t done with Warne around in the past! It doesn’t mean the Australians will be any less competitive for even if they aren’t spinning the ball they will find a way to beat us. We still need to take 20 wickets and they have they to beat us, so whether it spins or not there is still going to be a massive battle in the batting department.
The Aussies are well known for their sledging. What was the worst sledge you ever heard?
Very hard to say because I didn’t actually notice them sledging me to be perfectly honest! They say a few things at the beginning just to settle you in, but for me it was never really anything to worry about. They only sledge people who they think it might affect. Obviously it is a bit shocking to start off with but you have to just get around it and play on.
Is there a place for sledging in cricket?
Some of it used to be very very funny, but I don’t like sledging that is too personal or ethnically orientated. But if you want to have a sledge that’s fine, just keep it within the realms of gamesmanship, and hopefully make it amusing!
Following the disaster of the last Ashes tour in Australia, you were appointed managing director of cricket partnerships for the ECB. What exactly does this involve?
My job is to work with the grass roots of the game up to first class cricket. I work with 5 other people, heads of departments for non-first class cricket; first class cricket; coaching development; funding and facilities; and an official’s body. But the people who have done the most successful work over the last eight to ten years are the people in the coaching development and funding and facilities departments. The coach education system in this country is second to none and the development programme is coming on as well. I am just a new boy at this so I am learning all the time.
From what you have seen, are the correct structures in place to ensure that England keep producing young cricketing talent?
I think we are getting there yes. The academies have had a big overhaul recently and David Graveney has done a good job on that. We need to convince the people at the lowest level that we need to try to improve the coaching and the facilities for the children trying to give them more access to aspects of the game such as mental toughness and playing through pressure so they understand these key things at an earlier age. We are looking to try to stretch the youngsters and provide them with more competitive competition. We always send our young players over to Australia because that is where the cricket is toughest, but there is no reason why we can’t create those conditions here. So we are still trying to improve the player pathway, but we are definitely moving in the right direction.
Just a few quick fire questions to finish up with…..
Who would win in a drinking contest between you and Freddie Flintoff?
Freddie would win it hands down, I can tell you that for nothing!
Who is the best batsman you have played either with or against?
Viv Richards, very closely followed by Lara and Tendulkar.
And the best bowler?
For fast bowling Malcolm Marshall; for spin bowling Shane Warne.
Do you think that the ball Warne bowled to you at Old Trafford in 1993 was better than the ball he got Strauss out with at Edgbaston in 2005?
Too hard to say. Maybe Strauss should have covered his leg stump, but then again people will say I should have had my off stump covered! They were both tremendous balls that spun a huge amount and made good batsmen look hopeless!
Finally, do you think we can win the Ashes?
Yes I do. I think we will 2-1.
Former England Captain Mike Gatting was talking at the launch of the important new partnership between the ECB and Haynes Publishing , with publication of the The Haynes Cricket Manual.