Summer of four captains
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The summer of four captains is how the cricket media commonly refers to the England Test cricket season of 1988,[1] during which the England cricket team used four different captains in the five-match Test series against West Indies.
Cricket is inherently a conservative game, and captains of international teams are not changed frequently. Unlike many other team sports, the captain has a crucial role in on-field tactics and may also have an important say in team selection and other off-the-field issues. At the time, the English team had suffered a run of bad performances for several years, and the West Indies was approaching the end of nearly 20 years as the best Test team in world cricket. The many changes of captain over the summer reflected uncertainty in the English cricketing establishment as to how to rebuild the England team to respond to the inevitable drubbing by West Indies.
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[edit] Mike Gatting - 1 Test
Mike Gatting was the incumbent England captain for the 1st Test, at Trent Bridge, in June 1988. The result was a draw, with Graham Gooch and David Gower helping England to save the game from a position of weakness.
Before the 2nd Test, Gatting was sacked for an alleged off-field indiscretion with a barmaid. During the previous winter, Gatting had been involved in a notorious on-field altercation with umpire Shakoor Rana in Pakistan that snowballed into a diplomatic disaster, and the new allegations may simply have been the last straw.
This proved to be Gatting's last match as captain. He had captained England in 23 Test matches since taking charge against India 1986, but won only 2.
[edit] John Emburey - 2 Tests
Gatting was replaced as England captain by his Middlesex colleague John Emburey for the 2nd Test at Lord's and the 3rd Test at Old Trafford. West Indies won both matches by comfortable margins, and Emburey's captaincy was strongly criticised in both matches. After the England team was bowled out for just 93 runs to lose the 3rd Test, Emburey was sacked.
[edit] Chris Cowdrey - 1 Test
The England selectors surprised the cricket public with their new appointment. Chris Cowdrey was the son of Colin Cowdrey, an England captain in the 1960s and later given a knighthood and then a life peerage for his services to the sport; he was also godson of the chairman of selectors, Peter May. Cowdrey was a successful captain of Kent in county cricket, but had played just five Tests previously, in all the 1984/5 tour to India, captained by David Gower. He became only the second son to follow his father as captain of the England cricket team, after George Mann in the 1940s followed Frank Mann in the 1920s.
An all-rounder with a moderate record, Cowdrey's debut as captain in the 4th Test at Headingley was a disaster. He scored 0 and 5 and took no wickets, as England were crushed by 10 wickets, West Indies again winning at a canter. Worse for Cowdrey, he suffered a minor injury in a county match and was persuaded to step aside for the 5th and final Test. He never played for England again.
[edit] Graham Gooch - 1 Test
In desperation, the England selectors turned to stalwart opening batsman Graham Gooch as their fourth captain of the series, for the 5th Test at The Oval. Trailing 3-0 with one match to play, the 35-year-old was probably not viewed as a long-term prospect, and the English team was beaten convincingly for a fourth time in five matches.
[edit] Aftermath
Gooch had enjoyed a successful series against West Indies as a batsman, and remained in charge for England's next match, against Sri Lanka at Lord's later in 1988, in which Gooch achieved his first victory as captain. England did not tour that winter, and David Gower returned to the captaincy for the 6-match Ashes series at home against Australia in the summer of 1989. England lost 4-0, bringing Gower's long captaincy career to a close.
Gooch took over again as England captain for the tour to West Indies in the winter of 1989/90, winning one match and drawing another before injury forced him out of the team. He was replaced temporarily as captain by Allan Lamb, who lost both of his matches in charge. Gooch went on to captain England the following summer, remaining in that position almost exclusively until 1993 and bringing England a degree of success that they had not experienced for almost a decade, since the early 1980s. For much of this period, he was also rated as the world's leading batsman.
[edit] Trivia
- It is believed that the name "Summer of four captains" was a witticism, based on a reference to the Year of the Four Emperors.
