The tale of two very different Andrews

COLUMNIST Andrew Gale reveals the unexpected international identity who shares his name.

BY ANY OTHER NAME: Warwick's own Andrew Gale was watching Yorkshire cricket captain of the same name with great intent. Picture: Contributed

THEY say you should never do a Google search of your own name. It's got something to do with vanity.

There are all sorts of names for searching your own name on the internet - ego-surfing, vanity searching, ego-searching, ego-Googling, auto-Googling, self-Googling and so on.

I've always been one of those people who likes to test the boundaries and so, yeah, I gave it a go. I mean what's the worst thing that can happen?

Pretty serious stuff actually, as I found out.

Another friend of mine did the same thing and found out she had a namesake that was a well-known actress. Just not in the type of movies most people would want to be associated with.

Mine was worse. Much worse.

A quick search of Google came up with many hits for Andrew Gale. Pretty much 99per cent of them being of a fit-looking young bloke from the other side of the world who looked remarkably like my younger brother.

What was so bad about it?

Well, this was in the 1990s and the Andrew Gale I refer to was listed as an up-and- coming Yorkshire cricketer, currently captain of the England under-19 team and was widely tipped to play for England one day.

"Ee by gum!” I exclaimed in my best Yorkie accent when I found this out.

What if this guy did end up playing for England?

I'd never be able to face the boys at the cricket at the Gabba again.

I'd be blackballed on the hill, or Bay 33 as it is now known, just as quickly as if I had been named Geoffrey Boycott or Ian Botham by some other chance of birth.

I shuddered at the prospect. What if this namesake turned out to not only play for them, but also turned out to be really good, say like Kevin Pietersen?

Would I cheer for him out of vanity or cheer loudly when he made a pair?

What if he was a stodgy old bat like Geoffrey Boycott or a bit of a joke fielder like, say, Phil Tufnell.

The only hope I had if he was selected was that he might at least be a decent bloke like Freddie Flintoff, although he is one of a kind.

Pommy cricketer and good bloke is a bit of an oxymoron, really.

I watched Andrew's career from across the world with an intense interest.

He made some England A, one-day, Twenty20 squads and then became captain of Yorkshire.

Ee by double gum!

Many Yorkshire captains had gone on to play, and even captain, the old enemy - England. Boycott, Illingworth, Gough to name just three. I sunk deeper into my chair.

I watched the years roll by and Andy's career didn't go any further, sadly for him.

He had some controversy and some injuries. He had considerable success in the county competition and led the Yorkshire Roses to their first championship in 13 years and retired to take over as Yorkshire coach.

Whew. Dodged a bullet there.

They say he's moving into commentary as well. At least he wouldn't be as boring as Nasser Hussain.

Come on Aussies!

Originally published as The tale of two very different Andrews