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A look back at the career of Craig McDermott

Matt79

Global Moderator
Nice article. McDermott was gun. Siddle reminds one of him as well, in appearance.

Was at the 'G for that ODI vs Sri Lanka where he got two wickets off successive slow full tosses. The description is right - the batsmen were absolutely deceived and bewildered and it's always stuck in my memory.

No mention of his verbal exchange with Border during the tour of England. :cool:
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
Would it be possible when dedicating threads to these articles to let us know the author's forum user name so that those of us who expect to die in the next 40 years can decide whether it's worth our while using up valuable minutes reading it.
 

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
Yeah, enjoyed reading this - Billy was a great servant to Australian cricket, particularly during some pretty dark times, and he played a huge part in the Aussie revival.

He's probably a little underappreciated today as much due to timing and circumstance than anything. He was a top class Test fast bowler but he immediately followed Lillee and immediately preceded McGrath so can't help but suffer by comparison with two of the greatest of all time.

McKenzie has been consigned to a similar fate - a top class paceman who came between Lindwall and Lillee (and overlapped for a time with Davidson) and so doesn't get the recognition he possibly deserves.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Reckon McKenzie's utterly shocking finish to his career counts heavily against him too myself, given how many people will insist that a full-career-average is the best way to judge a bowler.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Interesting read - although I'm slightly surprised no mention is made of his encounter with one Ian Terence Botham at Edgbaston in '85 :happy:
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
Interesting read - although I'm slightly surprised no mention is made of his encounter with one Ian Terence Botham at Edgbaston in '85 :happy:
Yeah - I thought his performances in 1985 were a tad over stated. That being said, I found it a good piece, with some telling stats. Perhaps his reputation would have been higher if injuries hadn't caused him to miss the 1993 ashes and the pivotal WI series in 1995.

EDIT
30 wickets at 30.0 in 1985 - better than I'd imagined actually. A good effort against one of England's better top 6s on some benign pitches with naff all support at the other end.
 
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JBMAC

State Captain
His son Alistair, plays for QLD in Sheffield Shield and is a carbon copy of his old man in stle etc even down to the zinc-creamed nose...time will tell how good he is
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
His son Alistair, plays for QLD in Sheffield Shield and is a carbon copy of his old man in stle etc even down to the zinc-creamed nose...time will tell how good he is
I take it you didn't read the article then? :)
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
People unfortuntately forgetting McDermott probably explains why he made a *** tape. Wanted to get back into the limelight :ph34r:
 

social

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
A look back at the career of Craig McDermott
Craig McDermott is one of Australia's top 5 wicket-takers in both Tests and one-dayers, yet is largely a forgotten figure today. Why is this so and how good a player was he?

by Marco Trevisiol
I was fortunate enough to play against him in grade cricket whilst at his peak

The reason I say "fortunate" was because I knew he'd never put in ([ast A grade innings was 198 against him when he bowled medium pace at best)

Guy was immensely talented but a complete softie as he showed in his business career

**** him
 

bagapath

International Captain
Nice article

McDermott was a very respectable torch bearer of the aussie pace bowling legacy. Between Lillee and McGrath he kept the fast bowling tradition alive and Border owes him a lot for helping him rebuild Australia's reputation after the big guns retired together.

Also, Billy's tape scandal should make him the only competition from the cricketing world for Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian.
 

NUFAN

Y no Afghanistan flag
Loved watching McDermott as a kid. He certainly was the spearhead of our attack and his strong performances were a big part in helping Australia stay in the top 3 sides of the world.

In the article there was talk of him, being scared batting against the fast bowlers, I don't remember this at all, was there any reason why he normally batted above 11 if this was the case?

I guess having Reid, McGrath, Alderman, Rackemann, Whitney in the team at various sides meant it was pretty easy to not bat at 11 :)
 

Julian87

State Captain
I'm pretty sure he was used as a pinch hitter in World Series Cricket in the late 80s. He could bat.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Would it be possible when dedicating threads to these articles to let us know the author's forum user name so that those of us who expect to die in the next 40 years can decide whether it's worth our while using up valuable minutes reading it.
Not everybody who writes these articles posts on the forum.
 

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