Graham Gooch

Graham Alan Gooch is a former cricketer who had captained the Essex team and also the England cricket team. Believed to be one of the most winning international batsmen of his time, his cricket career spanned from 1973 till 2000. Graham is known as one of the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs to his credit. Born in Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone in East London, Graham attended the Norlington School for Boys.

He used to play first class cricket in regular basis from 1973 to 1997 and is more popular for his high lift of the bat, heavy batting style with a heavy bat and also for his upright stance. Gooch had the ability of hitting the ball hard and long. He could do this regularly throughout his playing career whenever he wanted in a game.

Nicknamed as Zap and Goochie, Graham was a right hand batsman and a right arm medium pacer too. Standing at a height of six feet, he made his test debut in 1975 against Australia and ODI debut in 1976 against West Indies.

Even after crossing 40 years of age, his batting skills were up to the mark. After his retirement, his career took a surprise turn as he became a coach and also as a selector and a broadcaster of cricket. Currently, he is the batting coach for the England National side.

=== Career Highlights ===

Known to be the leading test run scorer for the England team, Graham is considered as one of the only 25 players to have ever scored more than 100 first class centuries.

In 2009, Graham was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.