One of the reasons any bowler is so desperate to take the last wicket is not so that your picture is on the back page of every paper the following day but to get close enough to the stumps to grab one as a souvenir. Bowling certainly gives me the best chance of doing this.
The chances of me covering the 80 yards from fine leg (even without the hindrance of a dodgy back) quicker than Mark Ramprakash can cover 20 is pretty remote. By the time I got to the pitch this time the hyenas had left only a bail for me to grab as a memento. Bail in one hand and England cap in the other, I then made my way like a pinball to the cordoned-off area. Once there it was time to congratulate each other, shake the opposition's hands and make my way to the dressing room. I was the first in and was warmly congratulated by David Graveney who seemed a very happy and, for the first time this summer, relaxed man. I then went and sat in my corner, put a towel over my head and shed a tear or two as the rest noisily entered the room.
Why? Relief, I suppose. OK, over the years I have had quite a bit of personal success but never, as a team, have we achieved anything like this and I must say I found it quite emotional. With my head in my towel I could try and hide my emotions and also grab a few moments to collect my thoughts. It's amazing what you think. Obviously there is delight and pride in what you have achieved but then you feel sympathy for the opposition.
When you lose you just feel empty, numb. But having won I felt sorry for the likes of Hansie Cronje, Jonty Rhodes, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, who have played so well this summer and now had nothing to show for it. I knew exactly how they were feeling.
How fitting that Yorkshire's current favourite son, Gough, took the match-winning wicket. All week the prospect of him tearing in from the Football Stand End like Sonic the Hedgehog has been greeted by the loudest cheers and seldom, if ever, did he fail to make some sort of impact. Since his Test debut against New Zealand in 1994 he has hardly ever not produced the goods.
His career record proves this as, during the Headingley Test, he took his 100th Test wicket in only his 25th game, a strike rate that any bowler would be proud of. His bowling has impressed me enormously this summer.
As a bowler he has improved significantly since those early days when he was a raw wholehearted performer. Up his sleeve he now possesses the control and movement which, combined with his other qualities, make him world-class.
As a person he has also matured notably and I am sure this is the main reason that his game has improved. At the start of his international career I think even he will agree now that he got a bit carried away with all the accolades. An example of this was when he took a wicket in the Sydney Test of the 1994/95 Ashes series. As we gathered to congratulate him he ran through us to do another 'fist in the air' jump for the cameras. Mike Atherton told him in no uncertain terms that he gets wickets for us and if he did that again none of us would be there next time to celebrate with him.
Quiet words like that and the misfortune of sustaining quite a few nasty injuries make you grow up. When your career is on the line or in doubt it does make you treat your job a bit more seriously. Despite that small gripe it has always been a pleasure to play in the same side as Goughy. He may not be the heartbeat of the side which is often written as there are other strong characters who inspire but he is the most effervescent man in our team, someone who remains upbeat and fun.
He is a natural crowd-pleaser, the one people enjoy watching play because he gives everything with a smile on his face. He is also great fun in the dressing room, never quiet for more than a couple of minutes, always wanting to be the centre of attention. Most of the time the topic of conversation ends up being about him, but in the loveliest of ways.
At Trent Bridge I sat next to Gough in the dressing room and he did not shut up for five days. It was almost a pleasure to get back on the field as he bent my ear on subjects ranging from the cheapest prices I could get for wine to what speed he was going to register on the speedster after tea and whether he was going to be faster than Donald (which he was.) At the end I said to him: ``I won't change next to you again, you've given me a bloody headache this week.'' He said: ``You ungrateful sod, I just got you 10 wickets.''
It is a pleasure to have someone like him in the side but I just hope Goughy spares a thought for the old codger at the other end in Australia when the wind is blowing! Finally, congratulations to Athers for winning the player-of-the-series award. He thus proved that this is not a trundlers' game!