Sadly, he will principally be remembered for three events:
He simultaneously received the first ball by, and was the first wicket of, Shane Warne in an Ashes series, at Old Trafford in June, 1993. Warne pitched the ball a foot outside leg stump, and spun the ball past Gatting's bat to clip the off bail. This is sometimes referred to as the Ball of the Century.
Being caught by Australian wicketkeeper Greg Dyer after trying to play a reverse sweep off opposing captain Allan Border's first ball during the 1987 World Cup final.
The Ball of the Century, also known as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, was a cricket ball bowled by Australian bowler Shane Warne to English batsman MikeGatting on 4 June 1993, during the first Test match of the 1993 Ashes cricket series, at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Gatting responded by thrusting his left leg forward and to the leg side, and pushing his bat next to his pad to cover the spin of the ball and defend it away.
Gatting's wicket reduced England to 80 runs for 2 wickets, a position from which they never recovered, as Warne added the wicket of Robin Smith a mere 4 runs later.
Gatting was one of the most prolific batsmen in English domestic cricket virtually throughout his career, but it took him several years to establish himself in the England team, as he initially had great difficulty converting fifties into centuries at test match level.
Another mishap for which Gatting will be remembered is being caught by Australian wicketkeeper Greg Dyer after trying to play a reverse sweep off opposing captain Allan Border's first ball during the 1987 World Cup final.
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