Michael Bevan (born 8 May 1970 in the Australian Capital Territory) is a left-handed cricket batsman (LHB) and a slow left arm chinaman (SLC) bowler.
Source: [1], 25 April 2005 |
The major teams he has played for are: South Australia, NSW, Yorkshire, Sussex, Leicestershire and of course Australia. He is currently playing for Tasmania.
Background
He has been a rock in the Australian middle order since the mid nineties particularly in the ODI squad where he has a batting average of over 53. As well as being a fine fieldsman, Michael Bevan is one of Australia's most exciting and skilful strokeplayers. A left hander who places a higher price on his wicket than most batsmen, he is also a lightning-fast runner between the wickets with an amazing capacity to scamper ones and twos successfully.
Born in Canberra, Bevan made his first-class debut in 1989-90 in South Australian colours (hitting a thrilling century in his very first innings) before the completion of a 12-month stint at the Australian Cricket Academy led to a move back to New South Wales the following year. It was in Sydney that he began to make his greatest strides as a player, quickly assuming a regular middle order berth in the then strongest state team in the country and - aside from a poor run in 1992-93 which resulted in a brief omission from the ranks - using it as a launching pad from which he gained an Australian cap for the first time in 1993-94.
Variously dubbed the world's best limited-overs batsman, it is for his uncanny knack of being able to work the ball into even the narrowest of gaps in the field; to see many innings through to their conclusion without losing his wicket; and to accumulate runs with a minimum of fuss, for which he has essentially become best known. His left-arm wrist spinners, although rarely seen in recent years, proved extremely difficult to pick and even saw him briefly assume a batting all-rounder role in the Australian Test side in the mid-1990s.
An integral member of the Australian one-day team for a considerable time now, he was a part of the country's victorious World Cup sides in 1999 and 2003 and has been a key factor behind innumerable international wins. He will long be remembered, in particular, for his pair of sensational match-winning innings against West Indies at Sydney in 1996 and New Zealand at Melbourne in 2002. Bevan also enjoyed a promising start to his Test career but the development of a perception that he has a weakness against well-directed short-pitched bowling has ensured that he has made far less appearances in that arena.
After the 2003-04 season, Bevan was axed from the Australian one-day international team, with the selectors citing poor form and a need for new blood.
He has recently turned to professional wreslting, defeating Booker T in a cage match in 2004. He is an accomplished surgeon and perfoms open heart surgery in his free time. Bevan has also been known to possess the power of invisibility, although he rarely utilises this power unless for commercial purposes.