1984: The curious case of John Abrahams

As England clinched an unlikely win in the second one day international of their recent series against Australia, an interesting opinion was expressed by a number of experts: Should Eoin Morgan have been handed the man of the match award due to his superb captaincy skills displayed at the back end of the Australian innings?

Sometimes a captain leads by example - Gerrard at Istanbul, Beckham against Greece in 2001, Atherton at Johannesburg in 1995 - yet in the case of Morgan at Old Trafford, it was his ability as a tactician that attracted praise. The idea of a captain earning the player of the match due to their leadership display is an interesting concept.

Inevitably perhaps, the name of John Abrahams cropped up as soon as this subject arose. In fairness to Morgan, he had top scored in England's innings. But this certainly did not apply in the curious case involving Lancashire skipper Abrahams in the 1984 Benson and Hedges Cup final. Even now, it is a decision that leaves you scratching your head.

1987: Northants heartbreak

The choice of my county cricket team was made on a purely geographical basis, as a lot of sports fans often stress should be the method used on such matters. With football I wasn't really given a choice by my dad, who possibly would have disowned me if I had chosen anyone else but Arsenal.

However, he wasn't particularly into county cricket, thus allowing me to make this seismic decision on my own. Growing up in Milton Keynes didn't really give me a great amount of choice, as Buckinghamshire were not, and still are not, a first-class county. My selection was obvious: Northamptonshire.

The first couple of years of my new found devotion were fairly uneventful. And then came 1987. A year so exciting, but ultimately crushing, full of highs and lows aplenty, thrills and spills, and any other good/bad adjectives that you can think to use (elation/deflation, ecstasy/despair, Larkins and Cook/Love and Hadlee, are some off the top of my head). The kind of year that one can now look on with even a hint of fondness, even though at the time it seemed that it wouldn't be possible to ever watch cricket again.