FORMER England captain Graham Gooch admitted he was guilty of 'bald-tampering' yesterday.
The 43-year-old Gooch, who is in town on speaking engagements - as part of his testimonial year - has recently sprouted a new head of hair as a result of a hair transplant.
'Judge for yourself. Isn't it good?,' asked Gooch with disarming frankness. 'It is a new process called strand-by-strand and I think it is really good.' The balding Gooch, who retired from Test cricket at the end of England's tour to Australia last winter, but still plays for Essex at county level, decided in August that he would go for a new look in his 'twilight' years.
So he coughed up GBP4,000 (HK$48,000) to a company called Advanced Hair Studio who transplanted a thatch of hair from a Russian peasant. It is anchored to his head by synthetic skin and the entire process took three months.
Soon after the transplant, Gooch said: 'I'm delighted with it. I look a lot younger now. I just wish it could give me another 10 years in cricket.' Yesterday the cricketer, who has played the most number of Tests for England, reiterated his delight.
'In the first innings I faced soon after the transplant, I scored a century against Glamorgan,' recounted Gooch. 'I'm really happy with my hair.' The company who did the transplant were also happy with the outcome. So much, that they booked Gooch to tour England, showing off his new bouffant look and to appear in a promotional video.
It is not the first time that the master batsman, England's top run-getter in Test cricket with over 8,700 runs, went on television to show off his hair - or lack of it.