From the archive
Summer of despair for bowlers
ABOVE Graham Gooch during the 1990 Lord’s Test v India;The CricketerSeptember 1990; The B&H final authorised video
A summer in which England hosted India ahead of an Ashes tour, and when batsmen reigned thanks to bowlers hating the ball amid scorching weather. Sound familiar? Well, it’s 1990 we are talking about.
The September issue of The Cricketer has Graham Gooch sweeping his way to 333 against India at Lord’s on the cover.
On page 2, relative newbies Sky are offering a free dish to a reader “skilful enough to pick the 16 who will tour Australia that winter”. Alas, the series made for mostly grisly viewing, but it was the first time a full Ashes rubber down under was shown live, ball by ball on telly, so it was quite the thing.