One of the joys of the old Texaco Trophy was to see which rabbit the England selectors would pull from the hat. In 1988, against West Indies at Edgbaston, it was Monte Lynch who made his England debut – and was run out second ball after being sent back by his captain, Mike Gatting. It didn’t get much better – Lynch made 2 and 6 in the next two games and was not picked again. England won though, by six wickets, the first of eight victories in nine one-dayers at home to West Indies. Lynch was a hard-hitting and popular middle-order batsman who thrilled and frustrated in equal measure. He upset many supporters by joining the first unofficial tour of South Africa by West Indies in 1983-84, and the three-year ban which resulted coincided with the best form of his career. His hopes of a comeback after 1988 were dashed when he missed almost all of the 1989 season after injuring a leg playing football, and as Surrey rebuilt he found himself increasingly marginalised, although as popular as ever with the supporters (his benefit in 1991 raised £107,000). He moved to Gloucestershire in 1994 and retired at the end of the 1997 season. He now deals in cricket equipment and continues to play club cricket in Surrey.