Posts RSS
Printer friendly version
Email to a friend
RSSArtherton: A Player Turned Sports Journalist
 |
Michael Andrew Atherton is a former captain of England cricket team. Rifgt arm opening batsman after retirement is also active as a journalist and broadcaster. Born on March 23, 1968, in Newton Heath, Manchester, England, Atherton has been part of the team for long time and has led the English team in a record 54 Test matches. The young Mike Atherton had captained the Manchester Grammar School cricket team where his massive and vibrant performances led to selection for the England under-19 team, which he captained aged 16.
He made debut in test cricket for England in the fifth test against Australia at Trent Bridge. He was selected as vice-captain of the 1989-90 in the team tour to Zimbabwe. In the year 1990, he became the opener of English batting order partnering Graham Gooch. He became the captain of the team in the middle of the Ashes tour in 1993. He led England to West Indies in the winter of 1993-94 unsuccessfully. There were criticisms from all sides regarding his leadership skills. But he batted well in the next series against New Zealand and then against South Africa.
Atherton retired from cricket at the end of the 2001 Ashes. The main reason to quit cricket was constant back pain. Atherton is a player with lowest batting average to have scored 6,000 or more runs in Test cricket. Since his retirement, Atherton is busy in the media. He was a journalist for The Sunday Telegraph and succeeded Christopher Martin-Jenkins as The Times cricket correspondent on 1 May 2008. He was also a member of the Channel 4 commentary team for the coverage of Test cricket in England between 2002 to 2004. During this period he also worked as a commentator for BBC Radio and Talksport on Test matches outside England. In 2005, Atherton joined the Sky Sports commentary team.
