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Graham Gooch

Graham Gooch is a former first-class cricketer from England who led Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his period, and he became the most prolific run-scorer of all time with 67,057 runs in first-class and limited-overs games over a career that spanned from 1973 to 2000. His aggregate of 22,211 runs in cricket is also a record. Only twenty-five players have amassed more than 100 first-class centuries, and he is one of them.

Related Biography: Geoffrey Boycott

Background and Age

Graham Gooch was born on July 23, 1953, in Sussex, England. He started playing the game of cricket at a very young age. He was known to be an outstanding batsman even at a young age. He began studying at a boys' school and was the captain of the team. The Essex team later selected him to play on the first-class team.

Marriage, Wife, and Kids

Graham Gooch got married to his longtime girlfriend, Brenda Gooch, in 1976. He has two children with Brenda. One of them works in the Royal British army. He ended up divorcing Brenda in 1992 after sixteen years of marriage. He is currently living a very peaceful life outside of cricket. He sometimes visits stadiums to watch matches but is not active in the cricketing fraternity.

Early career

Gooch made his Test debut against a touring Australia side captained by Ian Chappell in 1975 when he was 21 years old. Gooch's debut was a flop, as he only managed a couple of runs, and England lost the first Test by an innings and 85 runs. Gooch scored 6 and 31 in the second Ashes Test before being dropped from the team. He was not selected again until 1978 when his scoring rate for Essex made him unmissable, and he established himself as a regular in the England line-up. He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1980.

Gooch's career was further interrupted when he took part in the infamous 1982 South African rebel tour, which led to three-year Test bans for all players involved, including Geoff Boycott, Alan Knott, and Bob Woolmer. Although Geoffrey Boycott was widely regarded as the driving force behind the tour, it was Graham Gooch, the team's captain, who received the most media attention and, in some cases, vilification. The Board did not give the captaincy to Gooch until the team landed in South Africa in early March. Various Insiders may claim that Gooch received more attention since he was towards the end of his Test career, while others were nearing the end of their careers, so the captain felt the ban more severely. In the film "Out of the Wilderness," Gooch claimed that "others" thought he "had no place in England cricket," which prompted him to join the tour.

Career and Net Worth

Graham Gooch played in first-class cricket for a couple of years before calling for the England national team. He started poorly, making just 21 runs in his first game, and couldn't help his team win a match. He was surrounded by controversy when Graham Gooch joined the team and was banned from cricket for three years. He later revealed that others planned to get him out of the group. Gooch came back stronger than ever and gave some awe-inspiring performances. He was again given the captaincy as he was the most qualified player for the job. He started his captaincy on a high note in the first match against West Indies.

He later took England to many series wins on his way to becoming one of England's best captains ever. He played so well that in 1980 he was given the Wisden Cricketer of the year award, which was a massive deal for him as he had come through thick and thin of cricketing politics and survived to become an elite player. Gooch retired in 1995, bidding goodbye to his beloved sport. In 2001, he returned to the game of cricket, this time as a coach of the Essex team where he initially played. He performed the role of the coach for four years before taking retirement from coaching in 2005.

He has a plethora of records to his name. He is the only player along with Kumar Sangakkara to score a triple century and a century in a single test match. When he retired from the game, he was the third-highest scorer in world cricket. Gooch has been remembered as a very talented batsman with a very high stance and a big bat lift. He was known to hit long sixes and fours that demotivated the whole opposition. He has been continuously rated as the best player England has ever had by many former cricketers. After retirement, he has appeared in many talk shows as well as some movies.


Quick Facts
Birth Date: 23 Jul, 1953
Age: 66 yrs
Occupations: Cricketer
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Birth Place: Whipps Cross
Gender: Male
Description: Cricket player of England.
Net Worth 2021: 30 million
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Last Modified: Feb 19 2023
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