Ian Davis (cricketer)

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Ian Davis
Personal information
Full name
Ian Charles Davis
Born (1953-06-25) 25 June 1953 (age 70)
North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
BattingRight-handed
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 266)29 December 1973 v New Zealand
Last Test15 August 1977 v England
ODI debut (cap 20)30 March 1974 v New Zealand
Last ODI4 June 1977 v England
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1973/74–1974/75New South Wales
1975/76Queensland
1976/77–1982/83New South Wales
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 15 3 88 22
Runs scored 692 12 4,609 462
Batting average 26.61 6.00 33.39 23.10
100s/50s 1/4 0/0 7/28 0/4
Top score 105 11* 156 84
Catches/stumpings 9/– 0/– 48/– 8/–
Source: Cricinfo, 12 December 2005

Ian Charles Davis (born 25 June 1953) is an Australian former

Pacific Brands
group) until his retirement in 2010.

Bright start

Ian Davis' talent was spotted early and he was selected to tour the

South Australia.[3]

Davis made his

Western Australia at The WACA. Batting at 6 he scored 27 and 25. In his next match Davis scored a first innings 86 against South Australia. Davis' good form was enough to earn him a call-up to the Australian XI to face New Zealand in December 1973 (just a month after debut and aged just 20). A weak New Zealand side were routed by an innings and 25 runs. Davis, batting at 6, scoring 15 runs before being caught behind by Ken Wadsworth off the bowling of Dayle Hadlee.[4]

His maiden first-class century came on 18 January 1974 against

Victoria. He scored 109 not out against a Victorian bowling line-up including future Australia international Ray Bright and former international Alan Thomson. Davis ended the season top of the NSW batting averages with 52.90 in 12 innings in 7 Sheffield Shield matches, the 109 not out being his only century, with 5 fifties. He was sixth overall in the Shield batting averages, with Greg Chappell top averaging a remarkable 92.09 in 13 innings.[5]

Davis was selected for the test series in New Zealand playing in all three tests. He scored his first test fifty in Christchurch in March 1974 scoring exactly 50 runs from 107 balls before being caught by New Zealand captain

Bev Congdon off the bowling of Richard Hadlee. It was during this tour that Davis made his ODI debut scoring 11 not out in Dunedin.[6]

Davis performed well enough to be included in the Australian squad for the 1974/75

England. Although he did not appear in any of the Test matches Davis did face Mike Denness' tourists playing for NSW scoring 4 and 38 batting at 3, being dismissed by Chris Old in both innings. NSW lost the match by 187 runs.[7]

The 1974/75 season was a poor one for Davis. He failed to register a first-class century, scoring only one fifty. He played 15 innings in 8 matches averaging only 17.21. His place in the test XI had been taken by the returning

Gillette Cup
beating Western Australia in the final, Davis scored 44 from 57 balls, in a thrilling 4 run win. The 1976/77 season saw a return to form for Davis, he returned to NSW, after just one season away, and topped their batting averages (53.83) after scoring two hundreds in the first four matches of the Sheffield Shield.

Recalled

Subsequently, Davis was recalled by Australia for the 1976/77 test series at home to Pakistan. Selected to open the batting in the first test at Brisbane he scored his maiden test century (105 off 201 balls) in the first innings but was out for a duck in the second bowled by Sarfraz Nawaz. Davis finished the three match series with an average of 49.00 after scoring fifties in both innings in the second test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (56 and 88).

A two test tour to New Zealand followed the Pakistan series. Davis finished the tour with an average of 33.72 and top score of 68 from 12 innings in 6 matches. He scored only 75 runs in the tests with a top score of just 34. The thrilling Centenary Test match against England at the MCG was played in March 1977, Davis scoring a vital 68 in the Aussies' second innings. Australia won the match by 45 runs, Dennis Lillee claiming 11 wickets in the match.[8]

The Australian winter of 1977 saw Davis selected in the Ashes party to tour England.[9] Davis played two ODIs on the tour scoring one run in two innings, he never played another ODI. In the five test series Davis was picked in the second, third and fourth tests opening with Rick McCosker. However he scored only 107 (ave. 17.83), his best score of 34 coming in his first test innings at Old Trafford. Following scores of 12, 33, 9, 0 and 19 Davis was dropped and replaced by Craig Serjeant at the top of the order. The fourth test at Headingley would not only be Davis' last test but also the last officially recognised first class match he would play until the 1979/80 season.

World Series Cricket

Davis was signed by

helmets. A piece of cricket equipment Davis would later help develop after retirement.[11]

Davis had more success in the International Cup (the 40 over competition), which is surprising given he was only selected for three official One-Day Internationals. He played in 18 International Cup matches over the two seasons scoring 428 runs (ave. 25.18) with two fifties (top score 69). Davis was selected for the marquee WSC Tour of the West Indies, however the bank he was employed with refused to grant him leave.[12] So Davis missed out on the tour which signalled the end of World Series Cricket after Packer reached a settlement with the cricketing authorities in May 1979.[13]

After World Series Cricket

The 1979/80 season saw the Packer players return to their State sides. Although Davis would play only three Sheffield Shield matches that season batting back down the order at 4. The highlight of his being a score of 112 against the new fully participating

South Australia. Davis had his best season since 1976/77 averaging 38 with two hundreds, he had moved back to open the batting. His best innings (133) coming against Tasmania at Hobart
. Another century followed in the next match, an 8 wicket win against Queensland (113).

1982/83 proved to be Davis' final first-class season. NSW were again runners-up to Western Australia, this time by four points. But Davis played just twice scoring 87 runs. Davis retired aged just 30. His last first-class match being played on 10 February 1983 against the touring Sri Lankans. He scored 14 runs.

Davis' biography was published in 2004 entitled, More Than Cricket, as told to Author Brian Wood.

References

  1. ^ "Cricinfo – Ian Davis Profile".
  2. ^ South Coast Register – Test cricketer backs Matthews, 2 June 2009
  3. ^ Cricket Archive – Australian Schoolboys in West Indies 1969/70, archived from the original on 20 June 2009, retrieved 9 September 2017
  4. ^ Cricinfo – Australia v New Zealand, Melbourne 1974 Scorecard
  5. ^ Cricket Archive – Sheffield Shield Batting Averages 1973/74
  6. ^ Cricket Archive New Zealand v Australia 1st ODI 1974
  7. ^ Cricket Archive – NSW v MCC 1975 Scorecard
  8. ^ Cricinfo – 1977 Centenary Test Match Scorecard
  9. ^ Kay, Oliver, The Times – Caught in Time: Australia Tour of England 1977, London
  10. ^ Fox Sports – The Packer Revolution, 17 July 2023
  11. ^ BBC Sport Jonathan Agnew column, BBC News, 27 December 2005, retrieved 5 January 2010
  12. ^ Wisden (1980) The Packer Years, 27 December 2005
  13. ^ Cricinfo – World Series Cricket Stats
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