Cricket's Moustache XI

#2 Graham Gooch

Gooch’s Zapata moustache drew smiles as well as respect

Zap or Goochie as he is fondly called, Graham Gooch, with 20 Test centuries to his name, was one of the most prolific run scorer for England. His career was marred with controversies but that didn’t stop him from attaining greatness. As Simon Barnes wrote about him,

“He achieved greatness as a player - at the age of 37. Such preposterous scores are normally for younger men. The fitness, the reflexes, the ability to concentrate for session after session; these are things that the years take away from you. But they have not taken them from Gooch. Gooch is a fanatic for mere fitness, a passionate lover of work for its own sake, a true glutton for austerity. Furthermore, he has achieved something quite close to greatness as a leader.”

Goochie was also known for some erratic changes in his facial hair pattern, varying from a designer stubble to clean shaven. He will mostly be remembered though for the Zapata Moustache that perfectly conveyed the seriousness that you demand both as a player and as the skipper.