Atherton had a balanced approach

IT WAS perhaps inevitable that Michael Andrew Atherton should lose his wicket yet again to his tormentor, Glenn McGrath, in the last innings of his chequered Test career. It was a paradox of sorts that in spite of his durability which caused the Aussies to dub him ``the cockroach", Atherton hardly or never felt comfortable against them, especially when it came to facing the most complete of the contemporary fast bowlers.

The fact remains that Atherton, nicknamed "Athers''and ``Dread", had only one century to his credit against Australia in his marathon Test career. That was way back in 1991 when he and his boyhood hero David Gower scored hundreds in Sydney. Of course, there was no McGrath to torture him; not yet. But once the lanky Aussie came on the scene, Atherton did not have a smooth sailing in any of the Ashes battles.

Even the last one in England saw Atherton fall an easy prey to McGrath no less than half a dozen times, making it a world-record 19th time in all. No leading Test batsman has ever become such a persistent victim of one particular bowler. Regardless of all his exploits, all his achievements, Atherton will probably be remembered more for his failure to cope with McGrath with any degree of confidence rather than for his success against other bowlers.

But it would be a serious mistake to judge Atherton on the basis of his unimpressive record against Australia. For his performance against South Africa, boasting an array of awesome pace bowlers, speaks for itself. It was as if Atherton had reserved his best for the Proteas. Special mention must be made of his epic185 not out at Johannesburg in 1995 and heroic, unconquered 98 at Trent Bridge in 1998.

At Johannesburg humiliation was looming large over England when he came to the crease on the fourth day. But he survived throughout the fifth, battled for 10 hours and 43 minutes against a ferocious attack spearheaded by Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock and eventually saved his team from the jaws of what looked like a certain defeat. It was Atherton at his dourest, essaying one of the greatest match-saving innings of all-time.

Trent Bridge saw Atherton in all his glory. England, already 1-0 down in the series, was set a seemingly improbable target of 247 for victory. Having already scored a vital fifty in England's fitting reply to South Africa's first innings total of 374, Atherton now set about to play one of his rare match-winning innings for his country. Of course, at 40-1 he could well have been back to the pavilion; but it was his lucky day.

To all eyes Atherton was visibly caught behind off Donald. But he preferred to stand his ground and wait for umpire Steve Dunne's verdict. It came in his favour. This infuriated the South African speedster so much that he responded with a barrage of expletives and one of the most hostile spells in recent years. Donald bombarded Atherton with bouncers and a series of unplayable deliveries. But he did not flinch a wee bit.

His unbeaten 98 guided England to an unlikely win which provided the platform for an eventual series triumph which was marked by a string of controversial umpiring decisions. With a bit of selfishness Atherton could have completed a deserving century but he allowed his captain Alec Stewart to go after the bowling and finish off the match. It was a sacrifice that was both noble and exemplary.

Atherton had his highs and lows as a batsman as his aggregate of 7728 runs at an average of 37.69 in 115 Tests indicates. These are far from attractive figures and do not do any justice to the kind of batsman Atherton actually was. But statistics can be deceptive sometimes; more so in a team sport like cricket. They should in no way diminish the essential greatness of a cricketer. And it was not without reasons that Atherton played so many Tests for England.

There were many factors why Atherton, who would play one quality innings here and there and offer glimpses of his class, was never ever consistent. It was not difficult to see that the weight of captaincy (he led England in a record 54 Tests) had been affecting Atherton's batting more often than not. He was also suffering from a severe back problem, especially in the second half of his career.

It was on account of his good run with the willow in the 1993 Ashes series in England that Atherton was made the national captain. And it was his horrendous time with the bat on the West Indies tour in 1997-98 that saw him relinquish the thorny throne after captaining England in 52 Tests without a break. It was a wise decision on his part because Atherton the batsman was too rare a gem for the England side to lose in the cauldron of captaincy. No, this is not to suggest that Atherton had cut a sorry figure as a skipper. Far from it. One would say he had done wonders given the woefully weak team he was invariably in charge of. No captain would probably have fared better with the limited resources at his command. Although he did display astute and imaginative leadership at times, he just did not have the right players to make his enormous task easier.

The element of luck, so important when it comes to captaincy, would also desert Atherton often enough. It is never easy to lead England's cricket team. Ask those who have done it and they will vouch for it. For it calls for many things in addition to cricketing intelligence. The pressure from many quarters, particularly from the always notorious British media headed by the tabloids whose news-hound make your life miserable, can be devastating.

Nevertheless, the man with the looks of a choirboy, the patience of Job and the fighting ability of a Greek warrior, had been one of the few brighter stars of England in the gloomy decade of 1990s in which the national squad experienced more downs than ups. He was not a purist's delight, maybe, but when there was a fight on, you could confidently put your money on him. For he was capable of playing like a champion when it came to the crunch.

He was more like Geoffrey Boycott who believed in grinding bowlers to the dust by simply batting on and on, secure in his belief that if you stayed at the wicket, runs would come quite automatically. But Atherton, unlike Boycott, could be enterprising when the mood seized him. In such vein he was surprisingly adventurous, letting loose a flurry of powerful shots, cutting, driving, hooking and pulling with elan.

Atherton, who had read history at Cambridge and moved in intellectual circles, who had a temper that occasionally boiled over into a half-raised eyebrow, who had an ego that would fit into a helmet several sizes smaller and who had an engaging smile that infuriated Australian sledgers, was probably too nice a man to lead his country in an era when international cricket barely remained on the chivalrous side of the Geneva Convention, let alone the Baron de Coubertin principle of sporting etiquette.

Howsoever hard he may have tried, Atherton the captain could not always steer himself clear of controversies, on and off the field. In what was an ugly act unbecoming of an England captain, he was caught by the candid television cameras rubbing the ball with dirt from his trouser pocket, defiling the hallowed Lord's in the process, against South Africa in 1994. The Test was historically important, too, since the Proteas were playing in the Old Country after more than two decades.

But after being fined by the match referee Peter Burge, and warding of calls for his resignation over the incident that threatened to sour the relations between the two countries once again, Atherton scored 99 in the next Test at Headingley and led England to a series-levelling triumph at The Oval where Devon Malcolm not only bowled the spell of his life but also made his famous remark, ``You guys are history", after being racially abused by the South Africans.

It was the strength of character that helped Atherton sustain himself in a demanding world of international cricket, both as a player and as captain, and weather many storms, on and off the field. ``You need a bit of spunk and character to play Test cricket. You have to be mentally strong. If you're a weak personality, you'll fold under the pressures, both on the field and from the media spotlight,'' he would say.

Almost throughout his career the Englishman had shown a balanced approach to life, cricket and any given task. His philosophy was very simple: ``It's amazing how quickly things change in life and cricket. Never take success for granted and never get overwhelmed by failure.''Many budding cricketers will be better off catching these pearls of wisdom, coming as they did from the mouth of the man who had seen it all and much more besides.

HARESH PANDYA

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