XtraTime Web Desk: Any young kid growing up during the late nineties will remember a cricketer from Canberra who seldom made headlines with his finishing roles in a game of cricket. So much so he later came to be known as ‘the finisher’ in cricketing circles. Australian Michael Bevan was born on this day in 1970.
Bevan was one of the most reliable lower middle-order batsman in the ODI format and carved a niche for himself in a decade long international career. The left-hander had some big shoes to fill as he replaced the great Allan Border. Bevan had a great debut test series against Pakistan in 1994, scoring 243 runs in four innings at an average of 60.75. He scored 82 in the first innings.
It was no mean feat in swinging conditions against bowlers of the caliber of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. “I remember taking strike against Wasim Akram for my first ball and he nearly took my head off,” recalled Bevan.
The Aussie all-rounder could not replicate the form in the forthcoming series. As such he could not prolong his career in the longer format, managing just 785 runs from 18 test matches spanning only four years. But Bevan’s ODI career was simply outstanding. The all-rounder went on to play 232 ODIs for Australia and scored almost 7000 runs at an average of 53.58. He also scored 6 hundreds and 46 fifties during his ODI career that spanned for a decade. Bevan was also part of the World Cup winning Australian side in1999 and 2003.
It was a common sight watching him bailing Australia out of trouble on numerous occasions. Bevan was also a constant innovator. He was one of the first exponents of the helicopter shot, made popular by Indian captain MS Dhoni in the years to come.
One of Bevan’s most memorable knocks came against West Indies at SCG in 1996 when he almost single-handedly pulled Australia out of the doldrums when they were 74 for 7, chasing 173. Bevan scored 78 from 89 balls and took Australia home with a boundary off the last ball of the match, off Roger Harper.
His other memorable ODI knocks include the one he played against South Africa in April 1997. He scored 103 to steer Australia to an improbable victory after they were down at 3/58. Another famous knock in a finishing role was against New Zealand in January 2002. Australia was struggling at 6/82 while chasing a target of 246 against New Zealand at Melbourne. Bevan came out to bat and played his usual game when he scored 102 not out to guide Australia get over the line. His 74 not out in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup game against England when Australia were at 8/135 helped build the course to the World Cup victory for Australia. In the World Cup Super Six match against New Zealand, his services were again required when Australia were 7/84. He didn’t disappoint again with his 56 not out leading Australia to victory.
With his match-saving innings every time, he established himself as the best finisher in the game until the emergence of MS Dhoni.