Michael Bevan

For Professor Michael Bevan FRS, see Michael W. Bevan.
Michael Bevan
Personal information
Full name Michael Gwyl Bevan
Born (1970-05-08) 8 May 1970
Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Nickname Bevo
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Batting style Left-hand
Bowling style Slow left-arm chinaman
Role All-rounder
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 360) 28 September 1994 v Pakistan
Last Test 2 January 1998 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 116) 14 April 1994 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI 29 February 2004 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no. 12
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1989–1990 South Australia
1990–2004 New South Wales
1995–1996 Yorkshire
1998–2000 Sussex
2002 Leicestershire
2004–2006 Tasmania
2004 Kent
Career statistics
Competition Test ODIs FC List A
Matches 18 232 237 427
Runs scored 785 6,912 19,147 15,103
Batting average 29.07 53.58 57.32 57.86
100s/50s 0/6 6/46 68/81 13/116
Top score 91 108* 216 157*
Balls bowled 1,285 1,966 8,769 3,546
Wickets 29 36 119 93
Bowling average 24.24 45.97 44.89 33.27
5 wickets in innings 1 0 1 1
10 wickets in match 1 n/a 1 n/a
Best bowling 6/82 3/36 6/82 5/29
Catches/stumpings 8/– 69/– 122/– 128/–
Source: cricinfo.com, 6 March 2008

Michael Gwyl Bevan (born 8 May 1970,[1] Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory) is a former Australian left-handed cricket batsman and a slow left arm chinaman bowler. He was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 1989.[2]

He played 232 ODI matches for Australia, and was a part of the 1999 and 2003 teams that won the World Cup. He was known as a "finisher" for Australia, particularly in ODIs, often leading the team to victory in the company of tail-enders.

He holds the world record One Day International batting average for retired players of 53.58. In List A cricket as a whole, Bevan has an average of over 57, the highest of any player to have scored 10,000 runs in List A games (second is Dean Jones, on 46.93).[3] Although Bevan played most of his domestic career for the New South Wales Blues, he moved to the Tasmanian Tigers for the 2004–05 season, where he continued his successes up until his retirement in January 2007. He has also played for South Australia and in England for Yorkshire,[1] Leicestershire and Sussex. Michael Bevan's first senior club was Weston Creek Cricket Club in Canberra.

ODI career

Bevan made his One Day International debut for Australia in the 1994 Austral-Asia Cup at Sharjah and by the 1995–96 season he became a regular in the side.

Bevan is one of only four players with 30 ODI innings or more to maintain a batting average above 50.[4] However, Bevan's best performance was as a number four.[5] Of the players to have played 30 or more ODI innings, he is one of only two (with Michael Hussey) whose batting average never dropped below 40.[6] This, coupled with the high price he put on his wicket, resulted in many not-out innings.

Nonetheless, he proved a reliable anchor at the bottom of the middle order, and he would often patiently guide Australia to victory following a rare top-order collapse – leading to him being nicknamed "The Finisher". One of his most famous "anchor" innings was in the New Years Day One Day International at the Sydney Cricket Ground against the West Indies in 1996. With the Australians at one stage 6/38 chasing 173, his unbeaten 150-minute 78 got the Australians over the line with a four on the last ball of the innings.[7][8] By the end of his ODI career, Bevan was known as the "Pyjama Picasso".

2003 Cricket World Cup

Bevan previously appeared for Australia in the 1996 Cricket World Cup, where Australia lost the final to Sri Lanka, and the victorious 1999 Cricket World Cup side.

Bevan entered the 2003 World Cup injured. He played his first game in the group stage against India. He didn't bat until the fifth group game against Namibia and he registered a rusty 17 before being caught and bowled by Louis Burger. In the final group game against England, he came in with Australia struggling at 48–4. He then was joined by Andy Bichel at 135–8 with 70 runs still required to win. Bevan finished on 74 not out and Bichel 34 not out as Australia managed to win in the final over. An unbeaten group stage was followed by an unbeaten Super Six stage. He made 56 against New Zealand helping Australia recover from 84–7 again batting with Bichel to help Australia win. His last knock was an unfortunate golden duck in the semi-final against Sri Lanka and he was not required to bat in the final which Australia won.

Test career

Despite his ODI success, Bevan's Test career was not nearly as successful. Thought to be susceptible to short-pitched deliveries, he never really succeeded in the longer form of the game, with an average of only 29. His problems with short pitched bowling are more myth than reality – he continued to perform consistently in ODIs, despite a rule change which allowed short pitch bowling in ODIs. He also scored heavily in domestic first-class cricket for New South Wales during this time averaging almost 60 with the bat. He performed well during his limited time as a bowler in Test matches, with his bowling style of unorthodox left-arm chinaman spin, including taking ten wickets in a Test match against the West Indies touring side in 1996.

The major teams he has played for are: South Australia, New South Wales, Yorkshire, Sussex, Leicestershire and of course Australia. He finished his career playing for Tasmania, where in the 2004/05 Sheffield Shield season, he scored a then-record 1464 runs in the season. Despite this form, he was missed Australian selection due to his age.

Retirement

On 17 January 2007, due to injuries Bevan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. "It got to the stage where injuries and pain were holding back my motivation, and it got to the stage where I was finding it hard to get up for matches and that was probably a pretty clear indication that it was time to move on," Bevan said.[9] Apart from coaching the Chennai Superstars in the Indian Cricket League, Bevan now participates in the Beach Cricket Tri-Nations series for Australia. On January, 2011, Bevan was announced the coach for Indian Premier League team Kings XI Punjab.[10]

Personal life

He married his English wife Tracy in 1994. Tracy Bevan currently (2014) works for the McGrath Foundation.

Statistics

Michael Bevan's Test career batting performance.
Histogram of batting averages highlighting Bevan's ODI record

References

  1. 1 2 Warner, David (2011). The Yorkshire County Cricket Club: 2011 Yearbook (113th ed.). Ilkley, Yorkshire: Great Northern Books. p. 363. ISBN 978-1-905080-85-4.
  2. ↑ Excellence : the Australian Institute of Sport. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. 2002.
  3. ↑ Cricket Archive
  4. ↑ "HowSTAT! Batting Averages (ODI)". Howstat.com.au. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  5. ↑ "HowSTAT! Player Analysis by Batting Position (ODI)". Howstat.com. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  6. ↑ "HowSTAT! Batting Statistics (ODI)". Howstat.com.au. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  7. ↑ Cricket Archive
  8. ↑ Australia v West Indies – WSC 95/96 Match 5 – Bevan's Match : Online Video | Veoh Video Network
  9. ↑ "Bevan pulls stumps". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 January 2007.
  10. ↑ "Bevan named Kings XI Punjab coach". ESPNCricInfo. 5 January 2011.
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