Thirty years on from that magnificent 333 at Lord’s
➤ Thirty years ago this week, Graham Gooch made 333 against India at Lord’s, the highest score by an Englishman since 1938. Simon Briggs and Vijay Lokapally catch up with the key players
Simon Briggs (Oxfordshire under-15s occasional) As a teenage cricket nut – and Essex fan – July 27, 1990 was a huge day for me. My first proper visit to Lord’s for a big-time Test match. And what a day it turned out to be, as my idol Graham Gooch forged on from his overnight 194 not out to reach 333, which remains the highest Test score made on the ground. Thirty years on, I spoke to three of the England players in that team – Gooch himself, David Gower and Angus Fraser – while Vijay Lokapally interviewed five members of the India side.
Angus Fraser (opening bowler) We had a shocker in the Ashes the previous summer, when the ball had a rope-like seam. In 1990, it was the opposite: smaller seam, flatter pitches, millions of runs all around the country. But Mohammad Azharuddin still put us in!
Graham Gooch (captain and opening bat) It can be difficult when you win the toss at Lord’s. If the overhead conditions are heavy, the ball can move around a lot. It was a bit like that in this case. The wicket is also at its slowest on the first day, so you just try to play solidly and get through to lunch with one or two down.
Sanjeev Sharma (third seamer) We got [Michael] Atherton cheaply. I had come on first change and was getting late swing. Should have had Gooch early (he was dropped by wicketkeeper Kiran More on just 36). He nicked even as he was trying to leave the ball. If you give a chance to batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar, Virat Kohli, Steve Waugh, you only suffer. Gooch comes in that category. It was the costliest missed catch ever. I never played another Test.
Kiran More (wicketkeeper) I don’t know how I spilt it – 10 times out of 10 I would have taken the catch. But it was the first hour and the ball deviated slightly and it just slipped away.
David Gower (No3 bat) Lucky git! Meanwhile, I was given out caught at silly point when I didn’t touch it. Then I sat and watched Wimbledon for the next two days, only getting up six times to applaud Graham’s landmarks. Not that he celebrated them much; he was never going to wear himself out by raising his bat too vigorously. But seriously, once he had got past that chance, there is this thing about the big run-scorers: they just keep going. It is a tribute to fitness, concentration, determination. That is what you call leading from the front.
Manoj Prabhakar (opening bowler) Gooch knew how to bat on that pitch. The Lord’s slope threw a challenge and we could not cope with his tactics. He just kept flicking and on-driving us, and by the time we realised it was too late. He was comfortably picking the runs and in no time he had his 200. I had never seen a batsman play so many pulls in an innings. Probably we pitched it too short. Plus, none of us could bowl bouncers. Gooch was simply too good in that entire series.
Gooch Between 1987 and 1989, my game was not at its best. Terry Alderman exposed that in the 1989 Ashes. So I consulted Geoff Boycott, my opening partner from 10 years earlier. I had good memories of when we played together, and I went back to that style in terms of set-up. And then with the captaincy coming back to me after that Ashes series defeat, everything just clicked. It was a double whammy. Those were the most productive years of my career, at an age when most people are probably past their best. (The England captain had turned 37 years old in that same week.)
Azharuddin (captain and No 5 bat) If you take away the chance he earnt, it was an unblemished performance. Gooch has always been one of my favourite batsmen. He never called me by my name. “Master,” he would call me. (Gooch has no memory of this, saying: “I thought I always called him ‘Azhar’.”) He was smashing our bowlers around but you couldn’t take your eyes off his masterly show, even though he was hurting us. There are times when you admire your opponent. Gooch was one such batsman. He played the on drive to perfection. His sweep shot was always lethal. Our bowlers discovered the hard way in that Test. It was Gooch versus us, really.
Fraser Once they stuck us in, they never looked like getting wickets, so we were just putting our feet up and enjoying the Lord’s hospitality. Allan Lamb and Robin Smith made hundreds, too. You have got friends inviting you to one of the boxes, and you are free as a player to go in and out, catch up with a few people in the corporate box, have lunch with your family in one of the suites. It was a relaxed environment. You went and did that knowing you would not be needed for some time.
Gooch People always mention about the BBC going off air on the second day to show racing (the 4.05pm from Ascot), just as I was about to get to 300. I was a bit nervous, so I probably slowed down then. But then, when I made it past, I was looking to tee off, make some quick runs ahead of the declaration. As it was, I was running out of petrol. After I was out (bowled through the gate by
‘Once they put us in, they never looked like getting any wickets ... so we just put our feet up and enjoyed the Lord’s hospitality’
Prabhakar), Micky [Stewart, the team manager] gave me a mild b------ing. He told me: “What did you get out for? You should have got the record!” (The highest Test score was then Sir Garry Sobers’s 365, one ahead of Len Hutton’s England record of 364.)
Fraser We made 650-odd but it was not easy when we came to bowl. Azharuddin played one of the best innings I have seen – a stunning hundred off 80-odd balls. He was the second-best player I ever bowled at after Brian Lara. If you put it on off stump, he would hit you through midwicket. Then, if you bowled three inches wider, he’d slap you through backward point.
Azharuddin I was feeling good right from the first ball. After the [1989] tour to Pakistan, I had changed my grip and decided to bat more aggressively. You can say it was a once-in-a-lifetime knock for me. I was under pressure for having put England in. So, I had to make amends and prove a point. I actually found Fraser easy to handle because he made you play every ball. I like bowlers who make you play every ball. You had to watch out, though, because he was so accurate. He bowled a splendid line, close to the wicket, slight movement. He troubled the batsmen right through the series. I think he was the difference.
Gooch Since you ask, yes, I did nip in with a wicket (Sanjay Manjrekar, caught behind for 18). I hope the poor guy didn’t take it too hard! But the attack was built around Gus. He liked to give it the old teapot, moaning away, but he was at his peak around that time. I thought I had caught Kapil [Dev] off him at second slip, straight in. Unfortunately, there were no replays in those days. You had to wait for the umpire’s decision, and when Nigel Plews asked Dickie Bird – who was at square leg – Dickie said: “I can’t help you, Nigel.” Then what happened was Kapil hit Eddie Hemmings for four sixes in four balls, all into the building site at the Nursery End, to save the follow-on. It was all the more frustrating because, as soon as we got Kapil off strike, Gus finished the innings with the next ball.
Kapil Dev (all-rounder) Honestly, had it been five wickets in hand I would not have tried. We were the last pair and I had no choice but to hit. The follow-on was staring at us. The first two sixes I did plan, but the third and fourth happened because of the flow. I could do that because I thought I was in good nick. I kept telling Hiru [Narendra Hirwani]: “Let us do it in singles,” only to mislead the bowlers! I waited and grabbed the chance when it became desperate.
Gooch I was not a happy bunny. I went back out to the wicket with impetus, spitting feathers. When you have a sniff of a chance, you have to drive it home. I was brought up with Mike Brearley and Keith Fletcher. In county cricket, you cannot get points sitting in the pavilion.
More Gooch was not the batsman who would get bogged down. He loved to stay positive. He had got a hundred against us on a seaming pitch in 1986 (114 at Lord’s). It was as good as any. Gooch was the best opener I have played against. Few could read the conditions like he did. Mentally tough, sound temperament, brilliant batting skills with his upright stance. He started that trend of holding the bat high. Never heard him speak when he was at the crease. He would just bat and bat and bat. A good man.
Kapil I was reminded of his hundred in the 1987 World Cup [semi-final] when he swept us out of the tournament. He was tough to bowl to when in such nick.
Gower To me, the 123 (which made Gooch the highest individual run-scorer in a single Test – still a record) is the bigger achievement. So many people would have settled for having made a triple century in the first innings, and not worried about the second. But by that stage of his career, Graham had worked out what he needed to do to make runs in big quantities, each and every day. And if he forgot for a moment, being captain reminded him. Far from being a burden, it spurred him on to greater things. This whole Test was a testimony to the ultimate professional, then at the top of his game.
Gooch I certainly never looked at the captaincy as a burden. I looked at it as an honour – the thing you remember most about your career. No individual performance can compare with being asked to lead your country. You are not just making the decisions; you are at the top of the pyramid of your whole sport. It is up to you to show the way, because everyone looks to you for an example.
Fraser When they batted again, I remember that I got Sachin Tendulkar (then 17 years old and playing the eighth of his 200 Tests). Some batsmen are unrecognisable between the start of their career and the finish. But Tendulkar has exactly the same beginning and end: strong off the legs, back-foot drives, cuts and stuff. If he has tinkered with his technique, it’s not noticeable on the eye.
Gower After all that effort, it was satisfying that we finished it off by bowling them out. Hemmings chipped in with a couple of wickets. He was a b----- good bowler, as I always realised when I played against Nottinghamshire. Put real fizz on the ball, good loop, a lot of revs. A professional stroppy beggar, too – although if you got him away from the environment, you realised it was not all real. His stroppiness was part of an act, the same as my laid-backness. I guess we were both Rada trained!
Fraser I always playfully rib Gooch over the fact that it is known as his match, but I won the game by taking eight wickets. No one remembers that. The batsmen go out there and fill their boots on a flat one, but it is only seen as being a great match because we won. Still, that is just me being big-headed. In fact, Gooch finished it all off with a run-out from mid-off.
Gooch There’s a photo of the middle stump out of the ground. Direct hit. It was their third seamer [Sharma]. He would have thought: “That fella’s not going to run me out. He’s an old man!”
‘Gooch was the best opener I have played against. Never heard him speak at the crease. He would just bat and bat and bat’