let’s remember some guys

[ImpatientLime]

ricardo powell

would probably have been a pretty damn good gun for hire on the t20 scene had he been born 10 years later.

 

[Flem274*]

james fuller never played international cricket despite probably having the raw talent to do so. born in south africa, he popped up in the nz under 19 system because he had genuine pace and could hold a bat. he got his chance for the otago mens side and put in some okay performances but nothing outstanding, and it was hoped he'd have a real breakthrough season soon and graduate to international cricket.

instead he went mercenary and took the county cash, spending his ability on well paid obscurity. that was, until he was on the receiving end of scott styris's bat and going for 38 in an over. he never really broke through in the game, achieving middling returns with the cheat ball and eventually moving away from bowling to becoming a bit of a t20 biffer who bowls part time.

sometimes i wonder if things could have worked out differently for him, but in the end a player has to want international cricket and if he wanted financial security over being nzs bowling allrounder sending down heat then fair enough. he's only 30 years old too. crazy to think he might have kept a tim southee or kyle jamieson out of the side in a different universe.

 

[Spikey]

I know the Aussie selectors only settled on Nathan Lyon as first choice spinner in 2011 after trying out the likes of Doherty and Beer in the Ashes the previous season, but Nathan Hauritz had held the gig for at least 2 years I think prior to that, did a decent job and was never recalled which must have been pretty galling for the guy.

the nathan hauritz saga is probably one of the strangest in recent history, and it was already on the back of some strange episodes (Cameron White leg-spinner, Jason Krejza 12fer)

so to recap, Krejza didn't get picked for the first game of the 2008-09 home summer at Brisbane, and then got ruled out for the next match due to injury. Hauritz was called in from the NSW 2nd XI (Hauritz at this point being like every other spinner in shield cricket: someone with a bad record, and seemingly being behind Beau Casson, who had played a test 6 months earlier.) but he ended up doing a steady job for one test. He got dropped for Krejza when he returned to fitness and then Krejza got pumped vs SA in Perth and didn't play tests again. Hauritz got recalled for the boxing day test (Steyn's game as I call it) and again did a steady job (and would have got the match changing wicket if Michael Hussey wasn't a ****) and played again at the SCG, but didn't get the job done on the last day on a tough last day, but by no means was a liability in these 3 tests which was a feat itself.

At this point you'd think he'd done enough to be Australia's spinner on the basis of being not disgraceful in 3 games, but Bryce McGain was the guy they wanted to test out, so for the return tour of SA it was Hauritz and McGain facing off. And then Marcus North took 6 wickets in the tour game and neither got picked. North ended up having some kind of illness and missing the last test and McGain got the nod....and got ****ed all over the post (McGain will get his own post)

So for the 2009 Ashes they finally just accepted Hauritz. He was the only spinner in the squad. Took 6 wickets in the first game but was part of the failure to take the last wicket. He got hurt earlier during the 2nd test (Johnson's meltdown), I think he spilt his finger on a return catch or something, but got to take some time wickets in the 2nd innings which upon looking at the scorecard, could have helped keep Australia in the test, had MJ not been a broken shell of a man. Hauritz got dropped for a 5 seam attack in the fourth test...and then famously not picked for the last test on a spinner's pitch (later on, a whisper campaign would start that Hauritz complained of some small injures which influenced the call)

Anyway, after that he got to enjoy a solid run in the team. Chris Gayle did hit him out of the WACA iirc but he took two five wicket hauls against Pakistan including the famous SCG test (the first of his FC career iirc, and made 75 as a nightwatchman)...and then came the India tour and being asked to bowl like Harbhajan and having a very bad, no good series.

Fighting for his test career, he got to bowl 6 balls in a shield match whilst Doherty got picked in an ODI and took a 4fer. Hauritz did get picked for the infamous 17 man squad for the Ashes, in the pouring rain, but so was Doherty and everybody knew what that meant. He went back to NSW, took his first shield five wicket haul and made two hundreds and everybody thought he would be picked for the third test....and Michael Beer was instead. Test career over.

As a sad coda to the story, he was picked for the 2011 WC squad, had a very tidy performance in his first game back for Aus....and did his shoulder. Never played for Australia again. Doherty got injured around this time and so Jason Krejza got picked for the WC. Yet, by the time of the first game, Doherty was back bowling for Tasmania. It was a strange time. Hauritz's shoulder took a long time to heal, and never being a strong shield performer, his career faded away as Lyon and Doherty established themselves in the test and OD team.

and there ends my recap on nathan hauritz, a favourite of mine. I don't think he's a forgotten man, yet I think his competence and bad luck is forgotten. jason krejza is remembered seemingly just as much. his average of 35 was absolutely respectable and for a long time Nathan Lyon was in the 34-35 mark himself. the michael beer selection remains the biggest shock of my australia fandom. completely insane.

 

[Teja.]

Nathan Hauritz

 

[Spikey]

Teja, it begins in 2002. Nathan Hauritz plays an ODI. Don't know why. Guess they hadn't turned back to Brad Hogg yet....

 

[Pothas]

james fuller never played international cricket despite probably having the raw talent to do so. born in south africa, he popped up in the nz under 19 system because he had genuine pace and could hold a bat. he got his chance for the otago mens side and put in some okay performances but nothing outstanding, and it was hoped he'd have a real breakthrough season soon and graduate to international cricket.

instead he went mercenary and took the county cash, spending his ability on well paid obscurity. that was, until he was on the receiving end of scott styris's bat and going for 38 in an over. he never really broke through in the game, achieving middling returns with the cheat ball and eventually moving away from bowling to becoming a bit of a t20 biffer who bowls part time.

sometimes i wonder if things could have worked out differently for him, but in the end a player has to want international cricket and if he wanted financial security over being nzs bowling allrounder sending down heat then fair enough. he's only 30 years old too. crazy to think he might have kept a tim southee or kyle jamieson out of the side in a different universe.

Took a hatrick for Hampshire last season. Has not done much else though.

 

[Chewie]

I remember there was talk amongst the Kiwis about Sam Wells a number of years ago and he got added to the test squad but didn't play and kinda fell away after that

 

[ImpatientLime]

paul nixon, what a gun

skin looked so tight on his face that he just resembled a skull at times imo
gum shield in place
joining the cb series in 2007 becasue fletcher wanted someone who could gee up a demoralized squad
took to it like a duck to water, sledging the absolute **** out of anyone in shouting distance including aussie legends. man did not give a solitary ****
england went onto win that cb series thanks to some crazy good innings from paul collingwood, inspired captaincy from freddie and of course based nixon the mouth piece keeper
this booked him a place to the 2007 world cup where whilst his performances were never exceptional, one really excellent effort that still sticks in my mind was his 42 in a tight england loss by two runs v sri lanka where the pinnacle was him reverse sweeping murali for 6

 

[Pothas]

This has just reminded me that Tim Ambrose has a Test match century.

 

[Teja.]

Teja, it begins in 2002. Nathan Hauritz plays an ODI. Don't know why. Guess they hadn't turned back to Brad Hogg yet....

I legitimately did not see your post.

 

[quincywagstaff]

ricardo powell

would probably have been a pretty damn good gun for hire on the t20 scene had he been born 10 years later.

Ian Chappell was a huge fan of him; kept talking him up as a Test prospect during the 00/01 tri-series in Oz.

 

[Howsie]

james fuller never played international cricket despite probably having the raw talent to do so. born in south africa, he popped up in the nz under 19 system because he had genuine pace and could hold a bat. he got his chance for the otago mens side and put in some okay performances but nothing outstanding, and it was hoped he'd have a real breakthrough season soon and graduate to international cricket.

instead he went mercenary and took the county cash, spending his ability on well paid obscurity. that was, until he was on the receiving end of scott styris's bat and going for 38 in an over. he never really broke through in the game, achieving middling returns with the cheat ball and eventually moving away from bowling to becoming a bit of a t20 biffer who bowls part time.

sometimes i wonder if things could have worked out differently for him, but in the end a player has to want international cricket and if he wanted financial security over being nzs bowling allrounder sending down heat then fair enough. he's only 30 years old too. crazy to think he might have kept a tim southee or kyle jamieson out of the side in a different universe.

Damn, that is definitely a name I had forgotten about. I remember watching him bowl for Otago in a PS game in 2010. He was bowling absolute rockets, looked 4-5 levels above every player on the ground. Then later on that season a few 20/20 games where again he was bowling rapid.

He left for England after that season (cheers again John) and the talk was he would have a crack at making the England team. He came back here a season or two later for Auckland in the super smash and didn’t look like half the bowler he was before leaving Otago. He had picked up a few injures but even that didn’t make much sense.

Definitely a what could’ve been Phelgm.

 

[Moss]

Damn, that is definitely a name I had forgotten about. I remember watching him bowl for Otago in a PS game in 2010. He was bowling absolute rockets, looked 4-5 levels above every player on the ground. Then later on that season a few 20/20 games where again he was bowling rapid.

He left for England after that season (cheers again John) and the talk was he would have a crack at making the England team. He came back here a season or two later for Auckland in the super smash and didn’t look like half the bowler he was before leaving Otago. He had picked up a few injures but even that didn’t make much sense.

Definitely a what could’ve been Phelgm.

Didn't Styris hit him for 30+ off an over while playing T20 in England? But yeah, I remember talk of him being rapid in NZ. Matt Quinn was another talked-about NZ domestic bowler who got lured away by England IIRC.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't read Phlegm's original post where he did mention the Styris over.

 

[Flem274*]

matt quinn probably did the right thing for himself. he got good bounce but was pretty medium. i don't begrudge him taking the cash.

 

[Moss]

ricardo powell

would probably have been a pretty damn good gun for hire on the t20 scene had he been born 10 years later.

Yeah similar sort of player to Kieron Pollard, played well before his time I agree. His brand of big hitting wasn't desireable just yet ODI cricket and the Windies didn't seem to know how to get the best out of him. Could have definitely ended up as a calculating hitter a la Pollard in the T20 era.

 

[Moss]

A few more who suddenly come to mind:

Paul Reiffel - If it weren't for the fact that he's an umpire today I think most people (outside Aus at least) would forget about him. Haven't encountered anyone who thinks back to 90s Australian sides and brings up his name (until you look at the scorecards and highlights packages). Good player though, underappreciated.

Jimmy Maher - Another Aussie who seemed to answer the call with good performances whenever Gilchrist or one of specialist ODI batsmen sat out, but would go back to the wilderness right away (the fact that I am not sure how accurately I remember this kind of proves the point?). No doubt Aussie posters would probaly have greater top-of-mind recall thanks to his efforts for Queensland.

Asim Kamal - Some one brought up Asif Mujtaba, he was sort of like a mid 2000s version, or an early more anonymous version of Fawad Alam maybe? Gritty left hander from Karachi, played several battling knocks in the middle order without really nailing his spot (HS 99) and disappeared for good. Osman Samiuddin who at one point loved riffing off the whole "archetypal Karachi batsman more likely to be a streetfighter and battler compared to his flashy Lahore counterpart", used to reference him in his articles and posts quite often.

Shabbir Ahmed - For a couple of years was a good first change foil to the likes of Shoaib and Gul. Used to run in very close to the stumps and get good bounce of a length, not Harmison-quick but could be awkward to face. Did have a very dodgy action though and it was probably no surprise he wasn't around too long.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Next up is Shiv Sunder Das who played 23 tests and was a good bridge between the utter trash of the non-Sidhu late 90s Indian openers (MSK Prasad, Vikram Rathour, WV Raman, makeshift openers like Mongia/Dravid/VVS) and the emergence of Sehwag. Das and Ramesh were both pretty substantial improvements as an opening pair over the prior ones but never good enough to be mainstays. His finest moment came in the 2001 Chennai test when on a critical day Das and Ramesh put on a solid 100+ run opening partnership in reply to Australia's 400 run first innings total. He scored 84 and laid the platform for India's greatest series win. He was also a gun short leg, taking a great catch to get Gillespie at Kolkata on day 5.

After a few ok series, his record stood at a perfectly reasonable 18 matches, average 40, 2 hundreds. After that though, it was all downhill.

In 2002, he toured West Indies, had a mare and was duly dropped. On the tour of England, days before the 3rd test at Leeds he scored 250 in a tour game and India still opted to go for Sanjay Bangar as opener of all people and his international career was basically done. Das received massive criticism for not converting his starts enough which seems fair when you see that he only scored 2 tons, but going through the innings list, you cant help but feel he probably didnt get enough credit at the time for consistently batting out a few overs of the new ball. In 14 of his 40 innings he achieved a Cowan and several other near Cowans in the 90s. Considering the fact that India selected Akash Chopra who basically did an SS Das impersonation , only way inferior, this looks weird in hindsight.

A rather mean cricinfo writeup:

For a player who wasnt that terrible, he also seems to have a rather harsh cricinfo profile writeup. Some of the lowlights include:

Das finds himself in a struggle to salvage a floundering career

He is yet to score a century against a strong attack - both his hundreds have come against Zimbabwe

On India A's tour of England, as captain for the first-class matches, Das did nothing special; he averaged 43, but seven batsmen averaged more.

Jeez. Although they do thrown him a bone here at the end

The Orissa Cricket Association declared a cash prize of Rs 30,000 for the hero of the day.

So he's got that going for him

Late career/post retirement highlights:
- He was captain of Orissa before he scored 5 runs in 5 innings, was stripped of captaincy, dropped and released by Orissa (also mentioned rather bluntly in his cricinfo writeup)
- Joined Vidarbha, got a golden duck in his last FC game
- Was chosen as a selector by the BCCI before they realized at the last moment he hadnt been retired for 5 years yet and was thus technically ineligible (?!)

Like with my Bhardwaj post, we'll end with a photo. Since I dont have much of an idea what he's done since retirement, I opened up his wiki and the pic makes it seem like he's probably a shady bookmaker who offers 20000 rupees to a random India ranji cricketer to score less than 25 that day.

 

[Moss]

Yeah the Das/Ramesh combination did a decent job of holding fort till Sehwag came along. Ramesh apparently was cast aside thanks to some major disagreement with the management?

That photo is just hilarious (when compared to his days as an international player).

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah the Das/Ramesh combination did a decent job of holding fort till Sehwag came along. Ramesh apparently was cast aside thanks to some major disagreement with the management?

That photo is just hilarious (when compared to his days as an international player).

Yeah have heard rumours he had a prickly personality so might have pissed off a few people in important positions. He seemed a tad harshly treated, especially that one time he was sent in to bat at number 7 in a tour game when he was trying to get back in the team.

 

[SteveNZ]

What about Brad Williams, the very unpleasing on the eye Frankston bogan who took 35 ODI wickets at 22, RPO of 4 and was never picked again at 29 years old? I remember thinking he was a champion in the making, big bustly around about 150km bowler but never had the sort of career he might have.