Murray Bennett
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Murray John Bennett | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Brisbane, Queensland | 6 October 1956|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Test debut (cap 327) | 22 December 1984 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 29 August 1985 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ODI debut (cap 81) | 6 October 1984 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last ODI | 29 March 1985 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1982/83–1987/88 | New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 3 February 2015 |
Murray John Bennett (born 6 October 1956) is a former Australian cricketer who played in three Test matches and eight One Day Internationals in 1984 and 1985.
Early career
Bennett made a promising start to his career as a
First-class debut
However, the bespectacled Bennett was unable to break through to first-class level until his
This left New South Wales with a target of 230 and Bennett made 21 not out to see them to the victory with four wickets in hand.
Bennett had less success in the second half of the season, only taking 15 wickets in the remaining eight matches, with a best of 4/9 against Victoria, totalling 6/106 for the match. His victims included Dav Whatmore and Dean Jones, removing both twice.[2][3] New South Wales made the Shield final and Bennett was retained in spite of his modest late-season form. He contributed little in a narrow victory. His state batted first and contributed only in a total of 271. Bennett bowled economically, but was unable to take a wicket, conceding 50 runs from 29 overs as the Western Australians replied. In the second innings he managed only nine as New South Wales reached 280 to set a target of 293. Bennett was against wicketless, conceding 39 runs from 22 overs, but his colleagues were able to deliver with the ball and New South Wales won by 54 runs.[2]
Bennett ended his debut season with 38 wickets at 28.26 and 356 runs at 32.36.[2] He played in three one-dayers for his state taking three wickets at 30.03 at an economy rate of 3.03.[2]
Bennett was rewarded with selection in a Young Australia team for a month-long tour of Zimbabwe. The squad played two first-class and two one-day matches against the hosts' national team. In the opening first-class fixture, Bennett scored 24 and totalled 2/49 as the tourists won by an innings. He then scored 21 and 35 in the Australians' 126 and 216 as the hosts squared the series; Holland took a total of 3/64.[2] Bennett was not effective in the one-dayers; he took a total of 1/108 from 20 overs.[2]
Known for his accuracy and his well-disguised arm ball, he quickly formed an integral part of the bowling attack that made the state the dominant domestic team in the Sheffield Shield in the 1980s. Forming a spin-oriented attack with Bob Holland (leg spin) and Greg Matthews (off spin), Bennett played in all of New South Wales' ten round-robin Shield matches, as well as two first-class fixtures against the touring England and Sri Lankan cricket team.[1][2]
Bennett continued to struggle in limited-overs cricket the following Australian season. In the first match of the season against Western Australia, the opposition batsmen attacked him and he conceded 63 runs from his ten overs, scoring more than a third of their total from his bowling. As a result, Bennett was dropped from the one-day team for the rest of the season.[2] The spinner maintained his position in the first-class team and played nine matches for New South Wales.
In his third Shield match, Bennett made a tail-wagging 46 as New south Wales made 245. He then took 5/15 to dismiss the South Australians for 101, and his state went on to a 109-run win.[2] In the return match, Bennett made 48 not out and took 3/45 in a high-scoring draw.[2] He also scored 54 and took 3/62 in a match against Tasmania.[2] Bennett otherwise did not take more than two wickets in an innings and ended with 20 wickets at 36.55 and 202 runs at 25.25.[2] New South Wales failed to defend their title and did not qualify for the final.
ODI selection
During the winter of 1984, Bennett travelled to England to play in the Lancashire League for Ramsbottom Cricket Club as their overseas professional.[2] He started relatively slowly, taking 12 wickets in his first five innings with the ball.
Towards late June, he entered a strong run of form, taking 35 wickets in seven innings, claiming at least four wickets in each innings.[2] Bennett scored five half-centuries with a best of 85 not out against Haslingden and best bowling figures of 7/27 against Lowerhouse.[2] He took 83 wickets at 10.14 and scored 716 runs at 42.11.[2]
Despite his poor domestic form in one-dayers, Bennett was selected for the
In the 1984-85 Sheffield Shield, Bennett struggled to make the NSW team when not playing in Sydney, however, he made the most of his chance in the tour match against the powerful West Indians, the dominant team in world cricket at the time.[1] Before this match, he had taken only two wickets in as many first-class matches for the season.[2] In the first innings Bennett made an unbeaten 16 in his team's 287, before taking 2/53 to help dismiss the tourists for 212, securing a 75-run lead.[2] His victims were Gus Logie and the leading batsmen in world cricket at the time, Viv Richards.[3] In the second innings, he made six as the hosts collapsed for 129 to leave the Caribbean visitors with a target of only 205.[2] He took 6/32 in the second innings, his best figures in first-class cricket, including the wickets of opener Desmond Haynes, Richards and captain Clive Lloyd to give NSW victory over the tourists by 72 runs.[2][3] In the next match, Bennett continued his barren run and went wicketless against South Australia,[2] and was dropped from the state team.
Test selection
At the same time, the West Indies had won the first three Tests against Australia in a dominant fashion, and they had already sealed the series. The selectors brought Bennett into the team despite his lean form overall, because of his match-winning performance against the Caribbean tourists when they struggled against spin in the tour match.
The fourth Test in Melbourne saw Bennett make his Test debut over the Christmas holiday period. While not taking a wicket and totalling 0/90 at almost four runs per over without managing a maiden, Bennett made 22 not out in the first innings and survived the final overs of the match with the bat, remaining on 3 at the end. Australia had two wickets in hand[2] to end the West Indies 11-Test winning streak, then a Test record.
For the fifth Test at the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground, Bennett retained despite his wicketless debut and pair selected for the first time in combination with his NSW spin bowling partner, Bob Holland.[5] The match unfolded in a manner similar to the New South Wales tour match. While Holland was the Player of the Match with 10/94 wickets, Bennett scored 23 and contributed 2/45 and 3/79. In the first innings, he removed wicket-keeper Jeff Dujon to claim his maiden Test wicket before removing Michael Holding for a duck to help finish off the tail.[2]
In the second innings, Bennett removed Richie Richardson and then bowled Richards for 58 with an arm ball. Australia won the Test by an innings to end the West Indies' record of 27 Tests without loss.
Following his success in the Tests, Bennett was retained for ODIs. He had taken a total of 3/53 from 19 overs in his two domestic one-dayers for the season up to that point.
Bennett returned to state duty and helped New South Wales complete their second Shield title in three seasons.[2][7] He scored 22 and took 3/39 in the first innings of an innings win over Queensland. Bennett then played a match-winning role against Victoria. After making 19 of his state's 310, he took 3/47 to secure a 67-run first innings lead. Defending a target of 269 in the second innings, Bennett took 6/57 to secure a close-run 25-run win.[2]
In the final, he took 2/54, removing Australian captain Allan Border and future international batsman Glenn Trimble, and then made 10 in the first innings as Queensland took a 56-run lead. In the second innings, he removed Trimble and Test batsmen Greg Ritchie in his 4/32 as New South Wales dismissed their opponents for 163 to set up a target of 220. In a tense finish, Bennett could only manage a solitary run before being dismissed, but New South Wales' last pair reached the target to seal the Shield.[2][3]
Bennett was recalled to the limited-overs team and played his final 2 ODIs in the Four-Nations Cup in
Dropped from the national team
He was selected for the
Initially, Bennett accepted an offer to join the rebel tour to South Africa in 1985–86, who were banned from international sport because of their policies of apartheid. This would have earned him a suspension from mainstream cricket, but he withdrew at an early stage without financial inducement.—[8]
Bennett was overlooked for national selection during the 1985–86 season and played in all of New South Wales's 11 Shield matches for the season.[2] In the fourth match of the season, he took 4/56 in the second innings against the touring New Zealand, removing John Wright, John Reid, Bruce Edgar and Jeremy Coney.[2][3] He then played a prominent role in consecutive Shield victories. Bennett made an unbeaten 55 in a rearguard fightback that took New South Wales to 286, before taking 4/47, helping his state to a 99-run first innings lead over Western Australia. The match was eventually won by 151 runs.[2] He then took 4/38 and 3/32 in an innings win over South Australia. In these two matches, Bennett tied down the opposition; 44% of his overs were maidens and he conceded 1.39 runs per over.[2] Bennett later took 4/71 against Victoria and was prominent in an innings win over Tasmania. He scored an unbeaten 57 and took 3/53 and 2/23.[2] Bennett ended the season with 32 wickets at 27.40 and 300 runs at 33.33.[2]
Final domestic seasons
During the 1986–87 season, Bennett's bowling waned. In six Shield matches he took only nine wickets at 49.33 with a best of 3/79 against Western Australia. Although his lower-order batting still yielded 190 runs at 31.66, he was dropped in the latter stages of the season and missed New South Wales' victory in the Shield final.[2] He was selected for only one limited-overs match; he had no success, conceding 34 runs from five overs without taking a wicket.[2]
Bennett continued playing for NSW until the 1987–88 season.[2] His last season was not a success. Playing in only five of the Sheffield Shield matches because of his lack of productivity, Bennett took only four wickets at 43.50 and scored 33 runs at 5.50, and was dropped for the last time in January. He was not selected in any one-day matches.[2]
He finished his first-class career with 1437 runs at 23.95 including four fifties and 157 wickets at 30.92. He served as NSW Assistant Coach from 1991–92 to 1993-94 and as NSW Selector from 1990–91 to 1996–97.[9]
Still heavily involved with the St George District Cricket Club, Bennett served as president for a time[10] and the club's talent identification and development program is named the Murray Bennett Pathway. He was known to be selling insurance in 2007.[11]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-19-550604-9.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn "Player Oracle MJ Bennett". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Player Oracle MJ Bennett". CricketArchive. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
- Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
- ISBN 0-86788-874-1.
- ^ Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
- Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
- ^ "How the rebels let the side down". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 December 2005.
- ^ Australia / Players / Murray Bennett
- ^ New South Wales Districts Cricket Association Centenary Archived 7 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "A RETIREMENT POLICY (on page 3 of PDF)" (PDF). The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 September 2007. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2008.