A fresh-faced Atherton made his debut in 1989

1988: Appointed captain of Cambridge University. Captained Young England in Australia.

1989: Awarded county cap and made England debut against Australia at Trent Bridge.

1990: Voted Young Cricketer of the Year. Appointed vice-captain of England A in Zimbabwe 1990. One of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year. Made first Test century, 151 against New Zealand at Nottingham. Youngest Lancashire player to score a Test century.

1990-91: Toured Australia.

1992-93: Toured India and Sri Lanka.

1993: - Appointed England captain for first time on on 29 July - for fifth Test against Australia. Secured first Test win as captain in sixth Test at the Oval.

1994: Captained England on tour of the West Indies. Lost 3-1.

The Oval in 1993 gave Atherton his first test win as captain

Captained England to 1-0 home Test series win against New Zealand and a 1-1 draw with South Africa.

Accused of ball tampering on third day of first Test at Lord's against South Africa after pictures were shown on TV - denied allegations but was subsequently fined �1,000 by England management.

1994-95: Captained England in Australia, losing series 3-1.

1995: Captained England to a 2-2 home series draw against the West Indies.

Captained England on tour of South Africa. Made his career highest Test score of 185 not out, passing 4,000 runs for England - 1,000 of them in 1995 - while helping save the second Test in Johannesburg. It was his ninth Test century in his 53rd Test.

1996: Captained England to a 1-0 home series win over India - including 160 at Trent Bridge - but lost series against Pakistan 2-0.

The tour of West Indies in 1998 was not pleasant

Came under increasing pressure over style of captaincy following drawn series in Zimbabwe during the winter.

1997: Scored 94 not out and 118 at Christchurch to secure 2-0 series win over New Zealand but lost form for the Ashes series with Australia which England lost 3-2 despite a thrilling final Test victory at The Oval. Elected to continue as captain despite calls for him to resign and agreed to lead England to West Indies.

1998: Struggled throughout Test series in West Indies, which England lost 3-1. Was surprisingly appointed captain for five-match, one-day series, despite Adam Hollioake's success in leading one-day side to Sharjah Cup victory three months previously. Resigned, however, after final Test.

Hit century in first Test back among the ranks as England drew with South Africa at Edgbaston. Won man-of-the-series after hitting an unbeaten 98 at Trent Bridge in an epic duel with Allan Donald.

Missed final Test of summer against Sri Lanka at The Oval because of back trouble.

1999: Chosen in England's World Cup squad and flew out to Pakistan with rest of party for training camp, but back trouble flared up again and was forced to withdraw from the tournament.

Atherton celebrates defeat of South Africa in 1998

Suffered a pair in the opening Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, taking his Test duck tally to 19 - equalling the England record held by Derek Underwood.

2000: June - Scored 136 in first innings of drawn Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge but was then forced off the field with a stomach upset. That caused him to bat outside the top three for only the second time for England in the second innings.

3 August - Made his 100th Test appearance for England alongside Alec Stewart against West Indies at Old Trafford.

2 September - Scored century against West Indies in the fifth and final Test at The Oval.

2001: 10 March - Escaped punishment after finger-wagging confrontation with Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara during second Test at Kandy.

20 June - Warmed up for Ashes series with unbeaten 125 for Lancashire against Essex.

Atherton and Alec Stewart receive their 100th Test caps

12 July - Appointed stand-in captain for second Test against Australia at Lord's, with Nasser Hussain injured. Scored 37 and 20, but could not stop England from slumping to an eight-wickets defeat.

2 August - Took charge again for the crucial match at Trent Bridge, which England needed to win to have any chance of regaining the Ashes. Out for a duck in the first innings, but made 51 in the second as England were well beaten by seven wickets.

Opened the batting in the fourth Test at Headingley. Made 22 and eight as England record a remarkable six-wickets victory.

26 August - In what was his final Test match for England, Atherton was out for nine in the second innings as England were forced to follow on at The Oval.