Atherton: Media can't take the Michael (5 July 1997)

5th July 1997

Media can't take the Michael

Lancashire Evening Telegraph

BRUSHING aside the bystander's request for an autograph, Mark Waugh bullishly made his way onto the Australian team coach on the eve of the third Test. At that moment, he looked like he would no more consider signing a piece of paper for a hopeful fan than he would lend a hand to the navvies who were digging up the roads surrounding Old Trafford.

Don't you know I'm a professional cricketer, mate - anointed to do exactly what I want? was the message that came through loud and clear.

The underlying message was that some guys just have it too cushy.

Michael Atherton can be just as offhand when addressing the world's media - or even that part occupied by Britain and the Antipodes - as he did earlier on Wednesday afternoon.

When his reply to the opening query about the state of the Old Trafford wicket went: "Yeah, it looks all right," it looked like being one of those days.

Reporters' laughter broke a situation that might have developed into a sticky wicket and the atmosphere, though never quite becoming convivial, mellowed.

The man these very same reporters christened "Captain Grumpy" four years ago slowly began to offer a little more.

"It's a little damp but drying out all the time - probably not as much as we want but it will quicken up during the game," he added before addressing an inquiry about the state of mind in the rival camps.

"Obviously, we recognise there were a couple of areas in the previous game we didn't perform at.

"And Australia will be pleased with the way they bounced back from Edgbaston.

"They're on the up but we're certainly not on a downer.

"There's been a positive feeling about British sport this summer with the Lions and Wimbledon and we played our part with the Texacos and the first Test and hopefully we can carry on."

For Michael Atherton this was full flow, as lucid as he gets with the media.

A predecessor as England captain, David Gower, tried to explain why.

"It's partly due to being born in Lancashire, partly due to being brought up in Manchester, partly due to being a stubborn devil but mostly it's due to being a professional cricketer confronted by pillocks with a pen," said Gower, who ironically sits like one - complete with pen in hand - right next to Lee Hurst on They Think It's All Over.

Atherton himself says: "I know there has been much written about me and a lot of criticism and speculation.

"But I can cope with it.

"There are certain jobs where you are forever the focus of attention and being captain of the England cricket team is one of them."

In that role, Atherton - despite timidly falling victim to Glen McGrath yesterday - has probably done more than any other man to transform the national team from shambolic to symbolic of a new age, an age of unshaven, unseaworthy (as trips to Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia the last time seemed to suggest) but undaunted English cricketers concerned with at least trying to win.

This was certainly the viewpoint expressed to me emphatically by Alec Stewart in the Old Trafford car park this week before the England vice-captain drove away to join some of his team-mates for a relaxing game of golf at Mottram Hall. "He's a world class player, a battler, a fighter," said Stewart of the man whose 185 innings against South Africa in Johannesburg is woven into cricket's rich tapestry of heroic deeds - Raymond Illingworth thought it the best Test innings ever.

"He's very strong-minded, has great concentration and is everything you need from a captain.

"He leads only by example."

Quite a few have questioned his right - and ability - to lead along the way.

Fred Trueman, the straight-talking Yorkshireman, once said, "It's about time someone told him to start smiling instead of constantly walking around with a face longer than a wet fortnight.

"He can't score any runs, his team is becoming an embarrassment and even his friends in the English media are turning against him."

And Trueman was one of those who DIDN'T think England should get rid of Atherton!

Certainly the smile was more evident on Wednesday, a smile that sometimes resembles a cross between Tony Blair's and Jack Nicholson's, alias the Joker, in Batman.

Indeed, you get the impression, that the "Captain Grumpy" image could probably not be further from the truth.

He has been betrayed so many times by the media that it must be difficult for him to play with anything other than a straight bat.

And if you had been the England captain last winter in Zimbabwe, where the tourists were finished off by an auctioneer's hammer blow, Craig Evans', against the President's XI, you too might struggle sometimes to flex those smiling muscles.

The most pressing concern about an England captain, or any England cricketer for that matter, is how they perform in the field and here Atherton has rarely deviated from exemplary.

His record ensures that he would walk onto almost anyone's World XI. "Michael Atherton has been terrific in the care of his team, spending time with individuals about their game and reassuring the odd lad who performs below par," said England coach and Atherton confidante David Lloyd.

"As a player, his record speaks for itself."

When Atherton was asked what he thought about his recently-published autobiography, he replied: "To be honest, I haven't read much of it."

It was a typical reply from a modest, self-effacing man.

Maybe Mark Waugh could take a leaf out of his book.

Source :: Lancashire Evening Telegraph (https://www.reednews.co.uk/let/)