Gary pratt where is he now

I was involved in four of the five Test matches he was not present for the first Test at Lord's - the only one England lost and it was a massive moment," he said. In , his appearance caused a huge stir - although Pratt recalls it was not regarded as a big deal in the England camp.

So much of it was made in the media," he said. Certainly, plenty was made of it in the Aussie dressing room. The tourists were upset about England's use of substitute fielders throughout that series. And when Ponting was dismissed by a specialist fielder they believed had been brought on to help rest weary bowlers, their anger exploded.

Many saw that as the crucial moment in the series. In fact, on that occasion at least, Pratt was a replacement for Simon Jones, whose ankle injury was a serious one. Nevertheless, he concedes the Australians did "have a point" about England's use of sub fielders. After the series, Pratt, who is still good friends with Durham and England bowler Graham Onions, was part of the "amazing" open-top bus ride through London, organised to celebrate England's first Ashes win in 18 years.

In the evening session on day three, Damien Martyn and Aussie captain Ricky Ponting were fighting hard to reduce the deficit and give their bowlers a reasonable target to bowl at, with Ponting at his menacing best and looking all set for a big score. Simon Jones, the English fast bowler, went off the field with an ankle injury, and was subsequently taken to hospital for an ankle scan.

While Jones was off the field receiving attention, Gary Pratt, a county-level player for Durham, was on the field as a substitute. He was standing at cover when Martyn prodded the ball in his direction and took off for a quick single. The crowd went wild and Flintoff lifted Pratt on his shoulders in celebration. And as he walked towards the pavilion, Ponting expressed his extreme displeasure to Duncan Fletcher in the England dressing room, and alleged that England frequently used substitute fielders to keep their key bowlers fresh.

Ultimately, it was concluded that Pratt was on the field owing to a genuinely serious injury to Jones and thus the substitution was not against the spirit of the game.

England went on to win the game with three wickets in hand, and with the last match being drawn, this game at Trent Bridge meant that England took a decisive lead in the series and would go on to win it.

As the celebrations after the historic win took place, Pratt became a cult hero of English cricket. There was a spot reserved for him on the open-top bus during the victory parade, and also at 10 Downing Street. Surprisingly, that was not the end of it. The Barmy Army even planned to fly Pratt to Australia for the Ashes as a good-luck charm, but failed to find sponsorship.

In , Pratt even finished in second place behind Ringo Starr, in a poll to find the No 1 substitute of all time. For all the love showered on him by the England fans, he was not liked too much by Australians. Talk about an angry Aussie! So where is he now? Pratt is now a successful businessman, running a property development firm.

He never got a call-up to play for England and his cricketing career came to an abrupt end in after Durham did not extend his contract. He even played some semi-professional football for Crook Town FC, before calling an end to his sporting career.

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