G.A. Gooch

123

G.A. Gooch 123 v West IndiesBack to boards

Graham Gooch’s fine England career saw him appear on the Test Honours Board at Lord’s six times for England and Once for MCC (and a further 2 times on the Limited-Overs Honours Boards!), but for a man that went on to become one of his country’s leading run-scorers, it was in his 22^nd Test, against the West Indies at Lord’s in 1980, that his first three-figure score finally came.

Opener Gooch’s 123, from 162 balls, was the fulcrum of England’s batting performance and he was offered little support against a West Indian attack that included Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft, making his fine stroke play even the more remarkable.

When Gooch departed with the score on 165, having put on 145 for the second wicket with Chris Tavare, England went on to lose the remaining eight wickets for only 104 runs.

Big centuries from Desmond Haynes and Viv Richards saw the West Indies pile up 518 all out but Gooch made 47 in the second innings to help England to a draw, reaching 133 for 2.