Arthur Crabtree wrote:Cook picked up nine wickets at Trent Bridge as England wrapped up the series and was named Player of the Match. In the winter he starred in England's 1-0 defeat in Pakistan and after a year in international cricket had 35 wickets in six Tests at 26.1. He would win a further nine caps, taking 17 wickets at 45.5. He faded away. Other spinners would come in and debut in his place, like Eddie Hemmings, and Edmonds and Emburey would return again and again. But none of them would touch Nick Cook in his first year of Test cricket and no one would provoke similar optimism, however brief, until the debut of Phil Tufnell at the MCG in 1990.
Was it Cook who famously got the yips, or was that someone else?
Gough was a beacon amidst mediocrity for most of his international career...
Gough is probably the hardest English cricketer to judge in my lifetime, because its hard to really under-estimate what he meant to the English fans/team in his pomp, but also hard to forget the pretty consistent annoyance with him not managing to fulfill his massive potential a lot of the time. He averaged 30 for much of his 90s stint Id have to guess, and in those days, only a handful of bats maintained 50 averages, and anything over 40 was world class, so it wasnt exactly a wonderful bowling average. Just from the top of my head, the Prasads of the era were rated as utterly terrible with averages in the 35 zone.
Gough's faults seem to be symptoms of this era's struggles; he was overweight, which lead to problems with breaking down. He was never challenged or managed in a way that developed him. He was one-dimensional, and when the ball didnt reverse or conventionally swing, his answer was to pitch the ball up further and further, which often resulted in his econ rate going sky high. He tried adaptations and variations, but when a partnership developed, he threw whole overs of slower balls down, never really using pace variations in a clever way. At the time, it was enough to be patchy, the English cricketing psyche seemed geared towards that. He started as a skillful batter with a few shots, who scored a few 50s quickly, and ended as a trick pony who tried to smack every ball into the stands.... yet the odd slogged 20 got the crowds going, and the site of him smashing the stumps with a wicked yorker gave us all a thrill.
This lack of professionalism seemed to hold back a lot of bowlers, mixed with selectors who sharpened the axes as soon as a bowler sent down a bad ball. Caddick got dropped so many times, you could see every boundary he gave away, a little part of his fragile confidence died. Gus Fraser was a solid pace bowler, but he was always injured, no one seeming to put together the string of injuries might be related to the fact he looked the least athletic person ever to play professional sport. How many times did Dominic Cork bowl in swinging conditions, and rather than bowl to good lengths and with his notable ability to move the ball, instead snarled and swore at batsman, while sending down mid track bouncers in the low 70 mphs?
I think the total lack of coaching/selecting common sense can be highlighted by a comment I once read by Alan Mullaly (I seen David Lloyd once tell it as an anecdote too, so its indisputably true) ..... after a season where he'd been a top county performer, he went on the late 90s Ashes tour. In a team meeting, Lloyd asked for input before the first test about how to bowl; Gough providing a four letter barrage about how they should just knock the Aussies out, a answer he kept on repeating everytime someone spoke..... Mullaly eventually put his hand up to give his view, and at this point Lloyd seemed puzzled..... despite being one test into the series, and having multiple games, apparently David Lloyd hadnt even noticed Alan was on the tour, and was confused by him being there
... which leads to the question of how much actual coaching, interaction and support these players were getting. To not even know you picked a guy, and not even notice him being around.... well, its frankly bizarre, and its no wonder in such an environment, we were utterly rubbish.
Gough always looked better in the short period he played under Hussain and Fletcher, and Caddick also excelled at this period, forming a very good new ball attack in the first year, in 2000. You got the feeling under a proper coach with good ideas, and a good work ethic, a lot more players would have excelled.