Craig Mcdermott

Craig John McDermott

Craig McDermott

Australia Australia

Overview

Full Name Craig John McDermott
Age 59y 233d
Born Wednesday, April 14, 1965, Australia
Batting Style Right Handed
Bowling Style Right-arm fast
Playing Role Bowler

Teams represented

Awards

Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year - 1986

Biography

Although Allan Donald was given the title of ‘White Lightening’, the same could very well have been patented by Craig McDermott, who had the same white sun tan cream going across his face, and definitely bowled at some pace. His 291 Test wickets could have come at less than what he went for, almost 29 runs, but for the spate of injuries he suffered throughout his career.

An outswing bowler with a side-on action, McDermott made his Test debut against the West Indies at a tender age of 19, and ended up picking up 30 wickets on his first Ashes tour. As a young man with boyish looks he was given the nickname of ‘Billy’, the Kid. However, this is when injuries stuck, a twisted bowel and a broken ankle ravaging his career. McDermott obviously fought back, to even pick up the most number of wickets in the 1987 World Cup and played no small part in the Aussie victory. His record against arch rivals England was impeccable, 84 wickets in 17 Tests, at 26 apiece. He broke down one final time in the 1996 World Cup in India and called it quits after that.

McDermott’s batting was nothing to write home about, but he was involved with the bat in two of the closest games Australia lost, one against West Indies by a solitary run, and the other against South Africa by 5 runs.
 

Debut
Australia vs West Indies at Melbourne - Saturday, December 22, 1984

Batting

Matches 71
Innings 90
Runs 940
100's - 50's 0 - 0
Sixes - Fours 6 - 90
Average 12.20
Strike Rate 54.77
Highest Score (vs England, 25/01/1991) 42

Bowling

Matches 71
Innings 124
Overs 2764.2
Wickets 291
Economy Rate 3.01
Five-Wicket Haul Innings 14
Ten-Wicket Haul Innings 2
Best Figures (vs England, 01/02/1991) 8/97

Fielding

Catches 19
Stumpings 0
Run Outs 0

Career Wickets

56
42
28
14
Wickets
Years