'I felt like I had walked into a brick wall'

Bowler Malcolm Marshall
Date February 18, 1986
Ground Kingston, Jamaica

"It wasn't a good pitch to play a one-day game on as it had just been re-laid and hadn't properly levelled out. We hadn't got off to a great start and when I made my way out to the middle I was confronted by a field more akin to a Test than a one-dayer, with several fielders in the slip cordon.

"In the games before this one I had enjoyed a pretty good run, particularly in Jamaica, so I was confident of making a few runs. I knew after three or four balls, however, that it was going to be difficult. Malcolm Marshall was bowling on a two-paced surface and the ball was flying off the ridges on the uneven pitch. `How on earth am I going to get any runs?' I thought.

"Malcolm was one of those bowlers who got the ball to skid through at you. His deliveries came at an awkward height and would be fairly travelling. I attempted to pull the ball but it flew off the track after it pitched and I can remember seeing it come up over the top of my bat. The helmet I was wearing only had side flaps and so the only obstacle in the ball's path was my nose. I felt like I had walked into a brick wall. Malcolm was very good about what happened and immediately came to the other end to make sure I was okay.

"I remain philosophical about the whole thing. After all I only suffered a broken nose and I've had plenty of those. I was very lucky that it hit me between the eyes; either side and the consequences could have been far worse. I may even have suffered a fractured cheekbone and been out of the game for a lot longer. As it was I was soon on a plane and was playing in Barbados three weeks later."

Gatting broke his thumb in the match against Barbados and played in only one Test, scoring 15 and 1. England lost the one-day series 1-3 and the Tests 0-5