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Mike Atherton first came to the eye of the English selectors while captaining his school, Manchester Grammar School. His performances led to his selection for the England under-19 team, which he captained aged 16. By the age of 18 he had been selected to play for Cambridge University, where he was awarded a blue. A year later he made his debut for Lancashire. During this time he would represent both his University, which he would captain to the quarter finals of the Benson & Hedges cup in 1989 and his county. In this same year he was also to make his debut for England, against Australia at Old Trafford, his home ground.
He won the title of Wisden Young Cricketer of the Year in 1990.
By 1991, however, his degenerative back condition, Ankylosing Spondylitis, which was to dog him for much of his playing career, and ultimately curtail it, first came to light, and Atherton was to miss England's winter tour to New Zealand.
By 1993, Atherton had become assured of a regular place as opening batsman and following the retirement of Graham GoochGraham Alan Gooch (born July 23 1953) is a former English cricketer. Gooch was born in Whipps Cross hospital on 23rd July 1953, in East London. As such playing cricket for Essex was hardly a surprise. He played between 1973 and 2000 in first-class cricket was elevated to the post of captain, aged just 25. However, in his fist full tour as captain, to the West Indies in the winter of 1993, England were heavily defeated, despite Atherton scoring a century in the final test.
He followed this with two centuries in the first two tests of the following summer's series against New Zealand. His reputation suffered a blow, however, when he was implicated for ball-tampering during the third test at Edgbaston, for which he was fined £2000. (The footage seemed to indicate tampering with the seam, as well as the infamous 'pocket full of dirt'.)
As captain, Atherton presided over very few major victories, yet was appointed an OBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand Cross (G. Knight or Dame Commander in 19971997 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Reef''. Events January January 3 NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time January 8 Mister Rogers receives a star on t for services to cricket. He was very vocally opposed to county cricket which he saw as having little purpose. Nor was he a regular selection for the England One-dayCricket A night match at Old Trafford One-day cricket is a version of the sport of cricket that is completed in one day, as distinct from Test cricket and first-class cricket which can take up to five days to complete. Structure In a one-day cricket match side, as a result of his slow scoring rate
He resigned as England captain following the 3-1 series defeat against the West Indes in the winter of 1997-8, though he continued for another three years as an England player, when injury permitted. He retired from first-class cricketFirst-class cricket is a term for cricket matches of at least three days length, either involving international teams, or the highest division of domestic competition. Conduct of a game of first-class cricket The game is conducted similarly to Test cricke in the summer of 2001, and has since worked as a summariser on radio and television.