In 1987, twenty-two of the world’s greatest players were summoned to Lord’s to play a showpiece one-off Test match to mark MCC’s bicentenary, and Graham Gooch, playing for MCC against a Rest of the World XI, marked the occasion with a century.
He put on 75 for the second wicket with Gordon Greenidge, 55 for the third with David Gower before a century-stand with Mike Gatting. Gooch had not been in fine form for his county Essex, but took his chance at Lord’s with both hands and earned himself a World Cup spot for the winter.
His 117 came from 211 balls and included eighteen fours and made the most of a good pitch, despite facing an attack that included the likes of Imran Khan, Courtney Walsh and Kapil Dev.
MCC declared on 455 for 5 before ROW reached 421 for 7 declared in reply. MCC made it a hat-trick of declarations in their second innings, Gooch making 70 in a total of 318 for 6 as this fine spectacle ended in a draw due to rain on the final day.