It could prove the signing of the season. Michael Atherton has replaced the retiring Christopher Martin-Jenkins as the new Chief Cricket Correspondent of The Times.

A long-standing former England captain, one of the finest batsmen of his generation and a celebrated author and broadcaster, our man holds unparalleled qualifications for the post.

Just consider his playing achievements. In a Test-match career that spanned 12 years, Atherton won a phenomenal 155 caps, scored 7,728 runs and captained his country on 54 occasions.

He has since excelled in the media, too, winning wide praise for both his journalism and his autobiography Opening Up, as well as for his brilliantly incisive commentary work with Channel 4 and, more recently, Sky Sports.

So, to celebrate his joining the staff, we have dug out from the Times archives reports on a few of his finest moments.

For a man who scored 16 Test centuries and 46 half-centuries, choosing his best innings was no easy task but a couple stand out. Who could forget the 13-hour 185 he hit against South Africa in 1995 or the unforgettable duel he had with Allan Donald three years later, when he repelled the most ferocious spell of fast bowling?

He shined against New Zealand, too, England's Test-match opponents this month, most notably in 1997 when he made 94 and 118 to almost single-handedly ensure victory in the third Test and a 2-0 series victory.

There were other achievements, of course, but there is not time to list them all here. Better then to get a flavour of how he will contribute to these pages by reading two of his recent (pre-transfer) appearances in The Times, a Wisden article on the genius of Brian Lara and a piece explaining why Shane Warne is close to the perfect cricketer.

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