Through the pages of English cricket history with Graham Gooch

Mario Puzo had said that great men aren't born great, they grow great. That was the same thought that resonated repeatedly during the course of an hour-long chat with the legendary Graham Gooch. Famed for his striking personality that has been followed with keen interest for decades across the world, even at 63, his earmarked wit, noesis of the sport and wealth of knowledge emanated as brightly as ever.

"There was an English guy called Bob Wright in Calcutta, who ran an old colonial club, Tollygunje Club, and he had a camp in Kanha, about 100 miles outside of Nagpur," reminisced the English icon. "We went to this camp which is a tiger reserve. It was very nice and big, but some of us had to stay in tents. There were some chalets but we didn't get on them, which is okay, but obviously this is not a fenced off park and basically there were no dogs in this camp because they'd been eaten by the leopards. It was slightly scary because if you're not used to it, you're in a tent late at night...there were some loos outside but you didn't really want to go outside late at night," he chuckled. "It was only a pleasure when guys like their staff came and knocked on your tent at 6 o'clock in the morning and they brought this big tin bath full of water for a bath or wash or whatever and they tell you, 'okay, we've spotted the tigers and we'll drive you in the jeep'...it was fantastic."

How many tigers did you spot?

A few... we went looking for leopards on foot as well; armed with only a camera was a bit unnerving, but it was fun.

Did you spot Geoff Boycott much on that tour (of 1981-82)?

I spotted him a lot 22 yards away actually. He was in till he beat the record for the most number of runs and then went home after that. Or shall we say, he was not well and they agreed he wasn't well and then he went home; he didn't play the last Test in Kanpur. In those days, you see, different from the last time I went to India as a coach three years ago, we lost the first Test in Mumbai and then we had five of the flattest wickets you've ever seen; just couldn't get anyone out. After we lost the first Test, five draws.

When we went three years ago, we lost the first Test in Ahmedabad on a turning pitch. We played quite well in the second innings but we picked the wrong team. Anyway, so when we got to Mumbai, I don't think MS Dhoni had the same idea because we'd just beaten India in England 4-0 and they had also lost 4-0 in Australia and he, I think, quite rightly, rather quite positively, wanted to beat us quite convincingly so he produced turning pitches, which backfired. We had two good spinners, and (Kevin) Pietersen got a hundred, Alastair Cook got a brilliant hundred and they didn't play so well. I like MS Dhoni; I like how he plays to win. That's the way to play.

*****

This was the beginning of the golden period that Gooch's celebrated career boasted of. After being dropped on 36 by Kiran More in the Lord's Test of 1990, he went on to score 456 runs in the game - 333 in the first innings and topped it with 123 in the second. That record for the highest aggregate in a Test still holds, with Mark Taylor second with 426. That tour followed England's unsuccessful tour of Australia, also known for the infamous fall-out between David Gower and Gooch, which escalated after the former, along with John Morris, hired a vintage aircraft to glide across the ground where England were playing. Gower was eventually left out of the side that was to tour India in 1993 and he never played a Test again. All that said and done, Gooch continued to lead by example and the exemplar results were evident as his batting average was almost twice the average of the team. In the 34 Tests that he led his country in, he scored 3582 runs at an average of 58.72, in stark contrast to his average of 35.93 as non-captain.

Did you ever buy Kiran More a drink?

No... I've spoken to him a few times.. (laughs) Can't hang onto it.

How has your equation with David Gower been since that Australian tour?

It's alright; I don't see him very often now. Look, I think we were brought up together in the England side. I made my debut in '75 but got back into the England side regularly in '78. He made his debut in '78. We played together all the way through really. We fell out a little bit when I was captain because I think I wanted him to maybe give a little bit more in terms of how he interacted with the other players and how he set the example as a role model. But David was David, and David really gave you everything when he took guard with the bat. So, I think we clashed a little bit then and we didn't see eye to eye. But now-a-days we get on alright and that's all water under the bridge.

As I say, I made those decisions where we left him out of the tour to India in '93 in good faith. If you asked me if I would make that decision now, and if I might reconsider that, I don't know because it created a lot of media coverage in the UK at the time. But you have to make tough decisions when you are in charge. We thought we were making the right decisions. Also, you have to remember that in those days, you weren't picking a side for Test matches, and a side for one-day games, it was all the same team, so when you went on tour, you pick one team and they played all the games.

We didn't select him... maybe it was a mistake. I'll hold my hands up because he still was a fine player and probably the best England player that I've played with.

I'd have to say that England in one-day cricket since the '92 final, I'd be diplomatic, are very poor. We've been very average for 24 years.

***

How was your stint as captain and what different did you do?

I think when people ask me what my highlights are, what innings do you remember, I say none of that. The highlight of my career was being asked to captain your country. There is no greater honour than being asked to lead your country because of the responsibility; not so much the prestige but the responsibility that you are entrusted with to lead 10 other people onto the field under the flag for your country. That really inspired me as a player and that's probably why I had the best years of my career with the bat and it sort of gave me an x-factor in terms of run-scoring. I can't tell you why, but it did. It gave me extra motivation and I think when you have that honour bestowed upon you, you obviously want to go out there and get the guys playing for you to do well.

I think England in that era and all through the 80s when I played, was a side that was capable of beating anybody, including the West Indies. We were not consistent. We would play well for a match or two and then badly for a few matches. The knack of being a good side and being rated as one of the best in the world is to be consistent. You can win match after match, draw and not get beaten and that was our issue through that period.

Before I became captain and when I was captain we were not a resilient team; we had talent, we had the capability to beat sides, in that year 1990, we beat India at home, New Zealand at home, we beat West Indies in 1991 at home. We beat New Zealand away, so we had some good times. We didn't shape up that well against Australia; their character was a bit stronger than ours.

Did you think the 1992 World Cup was England's best chance at one?

England reached the finals of the World Cup three times and I've played all of them. I'd have to say that England in one-day cricket since the '92 final, I'd be diplomatic, are very poor. We've been very average for 24 years. It culminated a year ago when we were very bad. In '92, probably the only tiny regret in my career was that we didn't win the World Cup that year. In '87 and '92, we had a very good side and were capable of winning. We just didn't play well enough on the day when it mattered in the final. In '79, when we got beat by the West Indies, they were much better than us. We were a very good side and had a lot of all-rounders, a lot of experience - myself, Alec Stewart, Graeme Hick, Ian Botham, Derek Pringle, Robin Smith, Allan Lamb, there was lots and lots of good cricketers and we played really good cricket.

But, in tournament play, in any sport, you have to peak at the right time. In tournament play, you need to get through the early part of the tournament and start to play your best game towards the end. So you're playing your best cricket, or soccer or rugby or whatever it is, at the end. That certainly happened to Pakistan in '92. They were very average at the beginning, they scraped through, played well in the semifinal and played better cricket than us on the day in the final. Not that much better, but enough. We were not good enough on the day.

Was Botham out? Does he still talk about it?

I don't know. I mean, we still feel that there was a noise, but who knows... You can't look back at things like that, because in all of our careers you can say is that guy out, is that guy not out, but there's plenty of times in Test cricket when people are out but are given not out. So it evens itself out. When you get good decisions or bad decisions, generally it evens itself out. You can't really look back and say if that wouldn't have happened or this wouldn't have happened or we'd all be scoring double hundreds or taking ten wickets every week. Only if...

Did that series loss in India in '93 leave a scar and how hard was that for you?

We had high hopes of doing well in India. I didn't play my best cricket. I didn't play in the second match because I was ill. We were undone by the Indian spinners. We didn't handle spin well. We, after losing the first two games in Kolkata and Madras, went to Mumbai to another spinning wicket and nearly got 400 in the first innings and thought we've got a chance here. That's when (Vinod) Kambli got 200 and they got close to 600 and we lost easily. We were very poor and we had a few issues, but I'm not making excuses. We were well-beaten.

When I came back home, we were criticised for a lots of other things too. The media got on a lot of other things; you're not just playing badly, you're wearing the wrong clothes, track suits to travel and all that sort of stuff comes out. The thing is, when you win, you can do anything you like. When you lose, everything is wrong.

It was a rough time on the personal front for you as well... How did you get through that phase?

Yes, I split up with my wife then. It was tough, but I think I was always lucky in my career that when I got out to the crease, at that stage in my career, I developed a sort of technique where things on the outside didn't interfere with my batting. I could shut things out. I think that's what you have to do. Modern day sportsmen say now that they're 'in the zone' and all this sort of stuff but I'd say I was in my own little world. I could single out the sort of contest between myself and the bowler, not leaving anything externally to interfere with that. But it was a very difficult time.

You had Keith Fletcher as the coach then and Micky Stewart had just finished after the Pakistan series...

It was Keith's first tour and he was very experienced in India. He toured India quite a few times to play. He was my county captain pretty much all my career till I took over the captaincy. He was a good guy. We just didn't play well enough. India, they often produce turning wickets and we could not only not make an impression and bowl India out but couldn't get runs either. Our batting failed against the Indian spinners.

In the 2009 Ashes, in the last Test match, you had the option of going for Mark Ramprakash who was going well, or Jonathan Trott, and England chose the latter. That was a big moment as a viewer to see English cricket going for the younger rather than the older guy...

Well, it's good that they're going for younger guys. We had to change our one-day team. If you look at the team that plays T20 and the one-day team now, there's a totally different team. There are a lot more younger players. That's the right way. In any team, successful team, generally whatever sport, you need a blend of youth and experience. You a bit of need both. You bring in younger players and hopefully they become more experienced, the older ones go out and it's an ever-changing cycle of bringing the younger players in.

Things go wrong in teams, not just in cricket, when they all get old at the same time, like the great West Indian team. You got to bring new blood in. You look at the Indian team that had all those iconic players and all of them retired at around about the same time, and they had a little bit of a period then when they were bringing younger players in. That's the sort of knack to get right: to feed your younger players with experience because when you bring younger players into a side, sometimes you're not really expecting them to be an instant success. If he does, that's a great bonus, but you're expecting them to learn off the experienced players. They're going to supply the lion's share of the knowledge and he's going to learn off those older players for a few games, a few months and then soon he's going to start gaining experience and pass it on. It's tough to expect a younger guy to be an instant success; if you think he's good enough, you got to hold your nerve and stand by them and not keep changing them.

The hard-nosed county professional who used to get picked because of the experience, has there been a conscious decision to go towards the younger guys?

England spend millions of pounds on a development system. You have the England Lions Performance Centre, you have an academy where we bring players through, so they're not duty-bound to play those players but that's the whole idea of having that. You don't see so many older players being selected now. It can work sometimes, some people are late-developers, you saw Stephen Cook, who was 33 (and) scored a hundred. Generally, I would say it's too late to be making a debut in your 30s, but occasionally, it works. But, you want to bring people through, the younger guys, like Joe Root came through in India three years ago. He's been a wonderful player and has all his best years in front of him.

*****

As fancy a tale as Gooch's career made for telling at the end of it, cricket pretty much began the conventional way for him. His father played for the local club in Leytonstone in East London for a team called East Ham Corinthians, where every Sunday, Gooch would accompany his mum and sister to watch him play. That was where Gooch eventually learnt how to play, pestering his father and other players to chuck balls at him.Given his career record that ultimately boasted of over 22,000 List A runs and over 67,000 runs across first-class and limited-overs games, it makes for a better tale that he never had formal coaching until he was 13. After having played for Cannhall Junior School at the age of eight, Gooch was taken by his father to the Ilford cricket school, an indoor cricket facility run by Bill Morris, a former ex-Essex player, who then became his first proper coach.

How did you develop your technique in those early years without formal coaching?

My dad was a cricketer so he taught me the basics from the start; how to hold the bat properly, how to move, and I think I was lucky to have good hand-eye coordination - you have to be born with that, you can't coach hand-eye coordination. I was lucky that I had that. He taught me the correct way to play. As you get older, you get stronger and fitter, you're more mentally mature and you only need to improve and work on your technique. It was okay up to the age of 13 and then I needed some refining of the rough edges, so he introduced me to the cricket school where I used to have private lessons.

That's also where Essex used to practice in the winter time. I ended up playing for the school, for the district called Waltham Forest and then I was quite lucky... where I lived in East London is on the edge of London and on the edge of Essex, so I played for London schools and Essex schools at the same time.

I took a lot of criticism in the press for not going on that (Ashes) tour to stay with the family rather than touring Australia and having a few beers.

***

When you look back now, given how you started and how your career for England progressed, how would you describe it?

A long one. I played Test cricket for 20 years. I made my debut in 1975. I do say it is quite convenient to have your first Test score in your surname... okay? You need to get that, so think about that. (Laughs) (Gooch got a pair on debut.)

Look, I had a good career; I enjoyed every minute of it. I don't really have any regrets. I was very lucky I came across many people who helped me - from my dad, to my first coach Bill Morris. My first real mentor when I played for England was the great Ken Barrington. He was a selector when I came into the England side. He was on tour then...we didn't have coaches on tour. We had a chairman of selectors, the captain and the team; there was no formal coach as such - that only came in later. As a selector, he assumed the role of a coach on tour and he was bit of a father figure to myself, people like David Gower, Mike Gatting, John Emburey, Ian Botham, all those sort of younger players who in the late 70s came into the England side. I was very fortunate to come across him. He was a great teacher to all of us.

Then as my career went on, Micky Stewart, who was manager of England, Keith Fletcher was a great influence for me as captain of Essex, Mike Brearley was probably my first England captain and he was one of the best. So I learnt off a lot of people. I'm proud that I played for quite a long time because to maintain that standard for a long time is not always easy with the fitness, technique and motivation. And I think, above all, to play that long you got to love the game. You got to love playing. Because, you know, there were so many matches every day that even in those days you had to stay motivated to improve yourself.

You played for over 20 years... How did you manage to keep yourself motivated?

I'm a big believer that you evolve yourself as a person; not just in cricket, in any profession, you have to evolve. You have to constantly look to improve yourself. When I started opening the batting in 1978, having got back into the England side, I was lucky to have realised that I needed to be fitter, stronger and to work on my game to be better mentally attuned. I always had talent but didn't have a foundation for my game as to how to play and how to manage my play. That came from learning off other people and gradually throughout my career I tended to improve myself.

I actually had quite an unusual career. The last part of my career was the best part. When I was between 35 and 40, I had much more success or much more consistent success than I did when I was younger. I only wish that I would have adopted that sort of persona earlier in my career about how I thought about myself and different things I did, maybe ten years earlier. It only came to me much later... when I became England captain actually, with the responsibility of being captain.

You had your fair share of challenges. How did you get past those, especially your three-year ban for having toured South Africa privately in 1982?

I had a lot of ups and downs. I toured South Africa on a private tour in 1982 and got banned from international cricket for three years. I played two years in South Africa domestically. As soon as the ban was lifted, I came straight back into the England side. I obviously didn't go to South Africa because, I in any shape or form condoned apartheid, but a lot of cricketers went to South Africa to earn a living; a lot of them played club cricket or provincial cricket. My only way of earning a living was by playing cricket.

I went on that private tour which obviously wasn't going to go unnoticed. The players that went got banned for three years and we accepted that and came back. Fortunately, people in South Africa were changing things in cricket then; they were trying to make it better obviously. Ten years later, they were readmitted back into international cricket.

I don't regret it. It was a time in my career where if I look back, did I want to miss three years of Test cricket? Probably not, but you make decisions in good faith in life and it didn't affect my play. As I say, I'm slightly unusual. I got better as I got older and I think generally for batsmen, as I like to call them, run-scorers....

Gooch: Do you play cricket?

Me: No..

Gooch: You can bat, you know that, right?

Me: I don't know that...

Gooch: You don't know that. I'm telling you, you can bat. But can you score runs? That's the difference. Anyone can bat. But can you score runs?

For bowlers it's a bit more difficult, but the point being that anyone can hold a bat, but can you make it count? Can you score runs? And you learn as your career goes on. I think the best years generally for a batsman are 25 to 35. They're the best years because it takes you a few years to learn your game, learn your technique, learn about yourself as a person... the kind of person you are, what you need to do, what would drive you forward. From 25 onwards, you get a little bit of maturity and the actual premium years for a player are about 27-28 till about 35 - that's when you should be at your best. Obviously, some people go on longer. I finished Test cricket when I was 41. Recently, Sachin went on as long.. so yeah, I enjoyed it a lot. I loved scoring runs.

Did you think that three-year ban prevented you from crossing that 10,000-run mark in Test cricket?

That depends on if I did get selected to play in those three years and if I would score runs. I was in a good period of my career, yes. I came on the back of that Indian tour I was talking about. But who knows what could've happened? Maybe. Maybe.

You missed the India tour where David Gower led the side because of your ban but skipped the Ashes of 1986-87...

I declined to go to Australia in '86-87. They used to invite you to tour then and you could decline to go in those days before central contracts, unlike now. And the reason why I declined to go was that I just had twins, so I opted to stay home because they were just born literally a few months before that.

Those were two major wins for England... do you look back and think you should've gone?

Possibly. I took a lot of criticism in the press for not going on that tour to stay with the family rather than touring Australia and having a few beers. I remember a couple of their headlines. I've had a few controversies. During the South Africa time when I was banned, I remember people writing that I was happy not being on the tour to Australia that took place in 1982. Guys in the media wrote that I was happy to be playing in South Africa rather than being there fighting for England who were getting beaten by Australia.

It was not the case at all. I ended up suing people in the newspapers for that because it was obviously untrue. But you know, these things happen in your life and you don't always get things right, but as long as you make decisions with a good, clear conscience and in good faith, it's all you can do. I opted not to go on that tour in '86 and didn't play much in '87 after that. I came back for the World Cup in '87.

And then you played a large part in ousting India from the World Cup in that semifinal of '87...

That day was a good day. (Laughs). I'll tell you why that was a good day, not just because we beat India. My memories of that Reliance World Cup was that Australia got to the semifinal against Pakistan while we were taking on India. As far as the locals were concerned, it was a foregone conclusion that it's going to be an India-Pakistan final.

Yes, it was being built-up as the farewell for Imran Khan and Sunil Gavaskar...

That's right. So, we sort of upset the odds there. But for me, often in life and cricket as a batsman, you have to plan when you go out to play, how you're going to play in particular conditions. Often, those plans don't work, but that day, the plan worked.

That was the phase when you started growing as a batsman, wasn't it? From then on...

Yeah, it was; I was 34 years then and had my best years from round about then. The '88 tour to India was cancelled because myself and John Emburey, but myself mainly, cancelled. We had been to South Africa five years before, and when politics becomes involved, it's complex. So the two of us cancelled. However, I became captain in '89 and led England in the Nehru Cup in India.

There was a similar issue during the '87 World Cup too where the Indian government got involved because you and John Emburey went to South Africa?

Possibly, because I had some issues when I went to West Indies in '86. The tour went ahead but can't say there weren't some political issues. I don't remember '87 really, but that '88 tour was cancelled. But they sorted everything out because eight months later I was in India captaining England at the Nehru Cup. So, I don't know... sports and politics is a complex business.

That phase, there were multiple captains in one year in '88 - as many as four...

There was Gatt, who was sacked as captain, then John, he's my best friend in cricket, he did two matches, Chris Cowdrey came in for one, and I did the last one and sort of carried on from there.

But in the '89 Ashes, the captaincy went back to David Gower...

Yes, because the tour was cancelled and there was a change in the chairman of selectors if I remember right. Ted Dexter took over as chairman of selectors and I was given the kick into touch, as we would say in England. David came back for '89 and it didn't go very well. We were heavily beaten by Australia. I was again asked to do it and I did for about four years after that.

That phase, when you became captain, you saw some sort of stability where you did well in West Indies...

I played the first Test and we won that. Played in the second one and got injured, broke my hand, so I didn't play again after that. Allan took over as captain. I stayed on the tour but couldn't play. We played well. We introduced a lot of young players on that tour. David and Ian Botham didn't go on that tour. People who came into the side that you would know were Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain, Devon Malcolm, he had been around a year or so, Angus Fraser, Mike Atherton didn't go on that tour... Jack Russell was on that trip, so few players who had been playing for a while...Allan Lamb, Robin Smith, so we had a lot of new players and we weren't given any chance to win in West Indies after winning the first Test.

When you watch him (Cook) play, there are more exciting players to watch, but he knows how to get the job done.

***

Viv Richards kicked up a storm in that series when a catch was disallowed... watched some videos of that?

The videos must be in black and white - that was so long ago! (Laughs) I don't remember that. But what I do remember is that we nearly won the second match when I broke my hand and it rained. We had to chase only 180 to win the game. It rained and it cost us the win. The pitch was a bit spiteful as well and we were denied victory. If we had gone 2-0 up in that series, we would've won it.

*****

Gooch's tryst with Essex dates way back to his teenage days when he used to practice in the same facility as them, eventually making his debut for them at the age of 19 in 1973. He took on the role of Essex captain in 1986 and won the County Championship in his maiden season. He fulfilled all the available roles when he replaced Keith Fletcher as the coach in 2001, and in the bargain, unearthed a talent and honed another that destiny played an able accomplice to.

Do you see your reflection in Alastair Cook, who also represented Essex?

He's better than me. Also, doesn't eat as many pies. (Laughs). No, I think he's his own man. I've had an influence on him, I suppose, for a decade now. I first saw him when he came he came into the Essex side when I was the coach. I was the coach from about 2002-2006. I gave it up because I didn't want to run the team anymore. I was happy to be coaching but I didn't want to do that. He came into the side in about 2003 and he always looked like he was going to be a class player.

Alastair is a very level-headed guy, he knows what he wants, he's very organised, he has a foundation for his game, he knows exactly how he can score runs, what he can do and what he can't do, which is an important asset for a player - not playing outside of what he can do. That was evident when he made his Test debut in 2006 in Nagpur when he scored a hundred with just two shots.

Gooch: Know what those shots were?

Me: No...

Gooch: You were in school, weren't you? He scored a hundred by just clipping it off his hips and playing the cut. Just two shots really.

He has expanded his game over the years, but where Alastair is really strong is... when you talk about the facets of a talented player, what would those be? How would you define talent?

Me: It's a tough one.

Gooch: How is talent defined? When you look at someone and say he's a talented player, what do you mean by that?

Me: There's probably something in him that stands out? Like a quality that is stark which you can't miss?

Gooch: So what you're describing there is that he looks physically talented. The way he moves, the way he shapes up, his balance, the way he plays his shots, the way he, maybe, has the time to play his shots... All those things that are visible to the eye. Right?

Me: Yes

Well, Alastair Cook is talented in here (points to his head). That's where he is talented - between the ears. And I'm not doing him down..I've said this many times and he knows this, when you watch him play, there are more exciting players to watch, but he knows how to get the job done. He knows how to score runs. He's very talented in the head, which is a very important aspect in being successful. Not saying other players are not, but you understand what I'm saying?

It's an interesting concept because when you talk about players like, 'oh, he didn't have the career he should have had, he's such a talented player, but just hasn't made it... why hasn't he made it if he's talented?' But you always refer to the physical talent, but you've got to have the mental aptitude to go with it as well. If you haven't got the mental aptitude then.... you need two things together.

Do you think he cops unnecessary criticism about his captaincy?

He had a tough year in 2014 when people were on his back about captaincy and a little bit about not scoring runs. But he was always going to be a class act there. He was going to come through that. He came through that and looking back, I think it has made him a stronger character, a better person. He has probably changed his captaincy a little bit. The criticism that has come from outside and from within about his captaincy, I think he's taken notice of that and has improved how he goes about it. It was tough at the time, yes, but he's come out a stronger, better person, so it's good.

Speaking of talent, you spotted Ryan ten Doeschate and sort of gave him the platform to build his career...

I gave him a leg up. I helped him, yes, but his success is due to him. Nobody else. I'm very delighted for Ryan because he's a lovely guy; very unassuming and he's really made the best of his abilities in the last decade. We spotted him when we were touring South Africa for a pre-season tour in 2003 where he opened the bowling and picked up some wickets playing for Western Province B team. I was the coach of Essex at the time. He opened the bowling. He took some wickets against us then it came to my notice that he was playing in Holland, then we got him over to Essex.

I used to pick him up from the airport on a Monday morning. He would play for Essex from Monday to Friday. Then I used to take him back to the airport on Friday because he had to play club cricket in Holland on Saturday and Sunday. We'd do that every week. We did that in 2003 and that was the first year that T20 cricket was played in the UK and he played quite a few of those games before he signed professional full-time in 2004. And the rest is history.

Sometimes in sport, he started off as a bowling all-rounder who batted a little bit, and now it's the other way around. He's a batsman who bowls. So his bowling is not as good as it possibly should be but his batting has improved out of all recognition and he is a brilliant fielder. He's one of Essex's best cricketers over the last decade and I'm so pleased for him because he's done well all around the world playing limited-overs cricket for Holland, in the Big Bash, the IPL, in New Zealand and he's made the most of his career.

What did you spot in him?

He's just a talented cricketer. Initially, while bowling, he swung the ball and got five wickets in the game against us in the pre-season tour. I thought then that this lad looks good. Then we saw him play again and he batted quite well at No. 8 and he looked a great cricketer so we thought we'd have a look at him. He made a good impression straightaway and you can see he had the right character. In life, it's not just about his talent, it's about what you are as a person. What is your character like? Whether you're a good character, whether you want it that bad if you want to be successful.

You know that... if you want to make your name in this game, this is a very competitive game, you got to want it badly. He wanted it and fortunately, it was a good choice. You never know, if he wouldn't have come over, fate, isn't it.. fate plays a part... he could have still been playing B team cricket in South Africa. You just ever know... and not every time do you see a success story like that. He's a good guy.

Your thoughts on your coaching stint with England?

Very good and enjoyable. It ended abruptly because we toured Australia and came third in a two's race. We lost five-nil, so... When you lose heavily, the coaches are the vulnerable ones, not the players generally. Andy Flower was coach then, he put me in place as the batting coach which I did for four and a half years, so as soon as he resigned, obviously my position was going to be in doubt. When a new coach comes in, they want their own people. I wouldn't have wanted it to finish that way, and probably would have wanted it to go on for a little bit longer, but not that much longer, but it didn't finish nicely for me. But I have to accept that because if you don't win and don't play well someone has to take the fall and I was one of those that did.

What have you learnt from cricket?

About life? Don't look down on anyone unless you're helping them up. That's one thing. One of the few profound statements: success in life is an inside job.

If an aspiring cricketer came to you and said he wanted to bat like you... what would you say to him?

Lose some weight if he wants to be like me. (Laughs)

I'll give you a little tip if you're coaching someone. You said you don't bat, okay?

Gooch: If you come to me...What's your name?

Me: Kritika...

Gooch: Ah, Kritika, sounds like cricket! Okay, so you come to me, Kritika, and say, 'Graham, I want to learn to play and I'm not happy with the way I bat or whatever. I want you to help me.' I'm 50 per cent there to helping you, and I've never ever seen you play. Why? Because you want to learn and find out. You get where I'm coming from?

If, as a coach, you have to keep going to the player and saying, 'I think you should be doing this, or looking at this', and they don't realise it himself then it's hard work; much, much harder than when the person wants the information. My job is not to tell Alastair Cook how to play; my job is to give him options. To talk it through with him about how we play in this situation, what you need to do, to give him ideas. His job is to decide, 'Hmmm, yes, I like that idea, I'll do that or try that', or to bin it and say, 'no, that's not going to work'. It's not that any of the information is bad, but his job is to decide if it's going to work for him. Simple.

If you want to improve yourself as a journalist, you watch how the others work, and seek that information, then you have a chance of improving yourself. So if a youngster wants to learn and improve, I think they've got a chance. You never know how far they can go because you never know how much talent they've got, how hard they can work, what their attitude is like. You've got to have a good attitude to your life. You've got to drive yourself, you've got to have the desire. Nobody can come along and tell you you should do this or you should do that. If that keeps happening, it's not going to happen for you; you need to drive yourself forward, have the attitude, have the ability, have the knowledge, you need the concentration. If you've got all those things, you can improve yourself if you're a cricketer, a journalist or whatever.

It's not exclusive or unique to playing cricket or sport. If you got to get on in life, you have got to have the desire and the drive to be the best you can be. And everyday you wake up, you ask yourself, 'why am I doing this?' To become better. Why do you get up at 6 o'clock and go for a run? Why do you go to the gym and play? Why do you want to be stronger, fitter? Why do you practice? Because you want to be better.

Like, you get on a pitch that turns square or seams around, you should be thinking as a player, not this is a tough wicket, but why do I do all my training, why do I do my nets, why do I practice on turning wickets, why do I practice my skills - to get runs in these conditions, that's what you should be thinking. You should be challenging yourself, not thinking I don't fancy myself playing on this pitch because this is not batsman-friendly. You got to drive yourself forward. It's really your life and your career, not anyone else's. It's not the coach's. He's not playing the game. It's your game. You're responsible for it. You're responsible for your own performance. You're responsible for your own development. No coach, no mentor, no manager is responsible for your development. You are. You are responsible for helping others as well. Passing your knowledge onto others...

Gooch: Sorry, I'm lecturing you.

Me: No, no, not at all...

You are responsible as an individual. It's not anyone else's life; it's your life. And if you have all those things as I have described, people on the periphery can help you by giving you knowledge. Your decision then is to decide whether you're going to accept that knowledge or not. This is my philosophy.