Michael Watkinson (born 1 August 1961) is a former English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played four Test matches and one One Day International in the mid-1990s. A right-handed batsman and right-arm bowler of either medium-pace or off-spin, he was instrumental in Lancashire County Cricket Club's successes in the 1990s, later becoming the county's director of cricket. He showed early promise as an all-round sportsman, excelling in both cricket and football, and achieving good standards in

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. He demonstrated that good hand, ball and eye co-ordination can be applied to many sports, and thus it is no surprise that he was able to make his living through sport. Watkinson attended Westhoughton County Primary School, and Rivington and Blackrod High School. During this time he was a regular player at Westhoughton Cricket Club in the

Bolton Cricket League The Bolton Cricket League is a cricket league comprising fifteen teams in and around Bolton, Greater Manchester in North West England. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels. It exp ...

, where he drew attention from Teddy Gerrard, a coach at the club. From these beginnings, and following cricketing predecessors from the club (four of the Tyldesley family made the ground staff at Old Trafford, with

Dick Tyldesley Richard Knowles Tyldesley (11 March 1897 – 17 September 1943) was a Lancashire cricketer who was one of the most important figures in Lancashire breaking Yorkshire's stronghold on the County Championship between 1926 and 1930. He was the yo ...

reaching international level with England) Watkinson emulated the local heroes, playing for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

and England.

Domestic cricket

As a county cricketer Watkinson was part of a Lancashire with a strong record in List A cricket. It was a team featuring many internationals, including

Michael Atherton Michael Andrew Atherton (born 23 March 1968) is a broadcaster, journalist and a former England international first-class cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England, and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the ca ...

Neil Fairbrother Neil Fairbrother (born Neil Harvey Fairbrother; 9 September 1963) is an English former cricketer who played 75 One Day International matches and 10 Test matches as a batsman for England. Fairbrother, named by his mother after her favourite playe ...

Graeme Fowler Graeme "Foxy" Fowler (born 20 April 1957) is an English former professional cricketer and cricket coach, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England, and later for Durham. He appeared in 21 Test matches and 26 One Day Internationa ...

, Peter Martin, and the Pakistan star

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several crit ...

; later he would also play alongside

Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977) is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...

and

Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional ...

. Watkinson helped Lancashire to win both the

Benson and Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

and the

NatWest Bank Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. La ...

in 1990, winning the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in the final of the former. He was captain of the Lancashire side from 1992 to 1997. In 1996 under his leadership the county repeated the double of the

and the

. He also helped them to win the

in 1995.

International cricket

Watkinson made his

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

debut against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

in 1995 at Old Trafford, when Atherton was England captain. He was thus placed in the unusual position, in his debut on his county home ground, of being captained by a county colleague of whom he was usually the captain in county cricket. England won his first test, Watkinson contributing 37 runs and five wickets, three of them in the second innings. Atherton later praised Watkinson's bowling, saying: "He was a bit nervous in the first innings but bowled exceptionally in the second". The highlight of Watkinson's international career came in the next test when he made his highest Test score, 82 not out, in an unlikely last-wicket stand with an injured

Richard Illingworth Richard Keith Illingworth (born 23 August 1963) is an English former cricketer, who is currently an umpire. The bulk of his domestic cricketing career occurred with Worcestershire, although he had a spell with Derbyshire, and overseas with Nat ...

to ensure England held the West Indies to a draw. According to

Christopher Martin-Jenkins Christopher Dennis Alexander Martin-Jenkins, MBE (20 January 1945 – 1 January 2013), also known as CMJ, was a British cricket journalist and a President of MCC. He was also the longest serving commentator for ''Test Match Special'' (TMS) on ...

, this result was assured by "the resourceful batting of Lancashire`s cool, competent and battle-hardened captain and Illingworth`s courageous defiance of doctor`s orders to share in England`s largest last-wicket stand since

Bob Willis Robert George Dylan Willis (born Robert George Willis; 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English cricketer, who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler, Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest fa ...

and

Peter Willey Peter Willey (born 6 December 1949) is a former English cricketer, who played as a right-handed batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler. In and out of the England team, he interrupted his international career for three years by taking part in the ...

put on 117 in 1980". Picked to tour

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, he had a more low-key experience and was not picked to play international cricket again.

After retirement

After retirement from 2002 he took the position of coach with Lancashire, from 2008 being elevated to the position of Director of cricket. In October 2014 Watkinson announced that he was going to resign from his role as Director following a disappointing season, which saw the club relegated for the second time in Two Years from the top flight of County Championship Cricket, this for Watkinson ends an association with his home county club that he has been with since 1982. In 2018, Watkinson became Director of Sports at The Manchester Grammar School. His son, Liam Watkinson, has played four first-class matches for Leeds/Bradford MCCU.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watkinson, Mike 1961 births Living people People from Westhoughton English cricket coaches England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Cheshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers D. B. Close's XI cricketers