HOW PLAUSIBLE is the idea of Mike Atherton, widely admired for his macho encounters at the crease and well known for his blokeish enjoyment of restaurants and hotels, messing around with pots and pans, making the evening meal? Not very.

But it must be true because he said it and he is nothing if not a straight talker. Whether he is a prince of pasta or the king of curries will however remain a mystery because, as with any of Atherton's domestic details, the subject was hastily changed.

He has certainly had more time at home this year. When he was forced out of the Sydney Test in January by a recurrence of the back injury that has kept him reliant on painkillers for the best part of three years, his international career was said by many to be over.

The only person with any conviction that he would return to the top of England's order was Atherton himself. No way was he going to end a distinguished career on the pair he made at Melbourne, or be left with the sour taste of missing out on the World Cup.

Since surrendering the captaincy, he has thoroughly enjoyed his cricket and, at 31, he was simply not ready to give up. Driven by this determination, which verged at times on paranoia, he worked harder than at any point in his career to contrive the comeback.

There was a point in the spring, he admits, when he knew he was not responding to treatment and he started to consider, albeit vaguely, other occupations. The only problem was, he couldn't think of one.

`I never gave an alternative career any thought when I was at Cambridge and I have not had much time to think about it since. But I wouldn't have swapped cricket for anything.'

Even now, despite being back in the position he made his own a decade ago, he acknowledges that his rehabilitation may be short-lived – he still has to take the odd painkiller and does his special Pilates exercises every morning and evening. He reckons he has another two years or so of top-class cricket in him, by which time he will have worked at opening new doors.

One option is almost certainly available. His TV commentary during the World Cup established him as an incisive and often witty observer, with a fluency that belied his age-old reputation for dourness.

`I enjoyed that. I'm lucky in that unlike most people in the press box I know a bit about the game,' he says, grinning. `I got a different perspective about the mechanics of the press. I understand more about what pressure the guys are under from editors and deadlines, but it didn't change my mind about the role the press plays in the game. I came to the conclusion when I was captain that no matter what happened, you couldn't win unless you had won. If you had captained superbly and played really well but lost, you got criticised. You learn not to worry about what is written, but it took me a while.

`I don't know a damn thing about TV presentation and think I am pretty useless at it but can give some honest opinions. It is an obvious angle as far as the future is concerned but you still hope that there may be something else waiting round the corner – a huge and exciting challenge. I don't believe in coaching so I would be a useless coach, though administration would be an interesting angle. I think the game in this country could do with a shake-up but it is so difficult, all the while the counties have control. If it changed, if the game were put in the hands of a small competent management team, then like many others, I would be interested. But there is no chance of that.' Selection duties might also pose problems given his frustrations with the system. Possibly in defence of his own record as captain, he suggests that changing personnel at England level has had no effect on results.

` England have been a mediocre side for 20 years now. We have won about one in four Test matches over that period and it has not mattered who's been captain or coach. Only a change in the system would have an effect.'

That said, his commitment to the task ahead in South Africa is unqualified and he is relishing the chance to get up the nose of Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and anyone else who cares to have a pop at him.

`With Donald, I know exactly what to expect though he has not played much cricket lately so he may be fresh. But I will play the game I know best – shots I play well and a solid defence. I played pretty well against New Zealand– my average was not brilliant [33, the best among England's batsmen] and I got out to a bad shot in the first innings at The Oval but apart from that I was in good form all season and feel confident that will continue in South Africa.

`It will be a boost if South Africa's selections are up and down. You only have to look at ours this summer, which gave New Zealand the advantage'

`They have their own problems. Hansie Cronje has only been appointed for two Tests, they have new selectors – I don't think Cronje and Kepler Wessels get on too well – and there is this uncertainty over fast-tracking coloured players. I will give us a confidence boost if their selections are a bit up and down. You only have to look at our selections this summer, which were clearly problematical – that gave New Zealand the advantage. If the South Africans are unsettled, it is good for us, but you still have to be good enough to exploit that.'

In 1998, England did exploit it, thanks in part to Atherton's mesmerising duel with Donald at Trent Bridge. In 1995–96 they failed, though again it was Atherton who made it a close-run thing, playing the mother of all defensive innings at Jo'burg. This time, he predicts another close contest, though much depends on the new blood on and off the field.

`It's going to be interesting because of the new England players and the new management team. To my mind, energy and enthusiasm are the most important aspects in managing a tour and although I don't really know Phil Neale and Duncan Fletcher, it will be interesting to work with them.

`I don't know how much they will want me to get involved. My primary role is to get runs but obviously I have more to offer. Nasser has never been to South Africa and there will be lots of younger players who will be touring for the first time and they will need help.'

Athers against South Africa

Mike Atherton has played in all 13 Tests since SA's readmission, with consistent success.
1994 (result 1–1)	20,8	99,17	0,63			207 @ 34.50
Dirt in the pocket brought out the grit in his batting
1995–96 (0–1)	78,–	9,185*	2,–	72,34	0,10	390 @ 55.71
Not just a famous rearguard right
1998 (2–1)	103,43	0,44	41,89	58,98*	16,1	493 @ 54.77
Free from the captaincy, he found his form and got up Donald's nose
Overall record 1090 @ 49.55. Average against other countries: 36.60

But they will have to go to him. He will not volunteer any assistance unless it is sought, an approach moulded by his experience of having to find his own feet and learning, in his uncommonly self-sufficient way, how to use them. He believes there is too elaborate a support network surrounding the England team now, making it too easy for youngsters to lean on others rather than fend for themselves and he grimaces at the suggestion (from his old friend David Lloyd) that some of them were traumatised by the dressing-room environment last summer. Atherton's world is a tough world: you either shape up or ship out.

 OVER LUNCH in west London, Atherton was relaxed and engaging. Choosing a restaurant owned by a New Zealander may not have been the brightest idea in the book but the taunting was dealt with good-humouredly and that well-kept secret, the dazzling Atherton grin, visibly charmed away the preying Kiwis.

To a journalist with little more experience of him than a series of ungracious performances in press conferences, this carefree package came as a surprise.

The things that have bothered critics in the past, principally his lack of concern for outward appearances – be it his stubble or his refusal to be garrulous in victory – seem, on closer examination, to be a testament to his unwavering commitment. To England, to the game and to maintaining high standards in the areas he believes matter, which do not include the above.

He has some regrets about the way he handled his captaincy, but being portrayed as grumpy or curmudgeonly is clearly not one of them.

`Sometimes I went out of my way deliberately to be like that. I enjoyed feeling that everyone was against us because it spurred me and the team on. If people want to think I am miserable then that's fine. I am pretty comfortable with who I am and am not too insecure about what people think about me.

`Of course, in hindsight, there are lots of things I might have done differently as captain. Simple things like selections and the way I worked with people, but at the time, I did everything for what I thought were the right reasons.

`I could have been a better man-manager – I am not the most talkative person and perhaps was a bit too straight. I can also be shy with people I don't know, so new players may have found it difficult to relate to me. But I held pretty firm through some dodgy periods and was absolutely honest with the players.

`Did I get the best out of them? I'm not sure – I felt that settled selection, consistency and security was the way to do that, though other people think that keeping players on their toes is the best way.

`By the time I finished I was knackered. I had done it for five years, much of it without the help the captain gets now. I found it very strenuous and physically could not go on. It affected my concentration in my own game and I did not feel the same way about captaining as I did before, so it was time to give up.'

With more time on his hands, it is obvious that, unlike many of his team-mates, he does not fill it hunting down the latest designer gear. He is `dressed' by Henri Lloyd, a Manchester sportswear firm, who open their warehouse to him every season for a ten-minute grab, relieving him of any tedious decisions over what he should take, other than his whites, on tour. He will also toss in a pair of boots that in most people's eyes have seen better days but, to him, just need new laces.

Cricket apart, he admits he is still searching for interests that genuinely stimulate him. He devours books – he will pack at least a dozen for the South African tour – and he enjoys fishing and sightseeing.

He will undoubtedly go and see what progress has been made in the townships. Entering that turbulent world, asking questions and seeing new raw talent proved one of the most worthwhile aspects of the'95–96 tour – which, cricket-wise, he says was one of the most enjoyable in his career.

Will Izzy, his long-term girlfriend, Guyanese but London-based, be joining him over the winter? Actually, that question was never put because of the way previous enquiries had been met – hands wandering nervously through his hair, an exaggerated yawn and an unequivocal but selfless explanation of how shy she was, how important she's been but how uncomfortable she felt in playing a part in his public life.

That is the thing about Atherton. He declines any opportunity to exchange thoughts on things that really shouldn't matter to anyone but him. He has a wider perspective which, though frustrating to us infernal sticky-beaks, is good for English cricket. Don't bet against him returning in January with his back intact and a winning bat up for auction.

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