Brad Andrew Williams (born 20 November 1974) is an Australian former cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs.

Domestic career

He is a right arm

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

who made his first-class debut for Victoria in the 1994–95 season as a nineteen-year-old. Williams moved to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

for the 1999–2000 season after struggling to hold down a regular spot in the Victorian team. On the bouncy WACA pitch in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

he went on to his most successful domestic season, capturing 50 first-class wickets, leading to his national debut the following year. After taking five first class

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s for the Warriors at a bowling average of 57 in the first three matches of the 2005–06 season, he was dropped for the fourth game of the season against the

Tasmanian Tigers The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield and the ...

, and he reacted by storming out of the training session and withdrawing himself for the team to play the Tigers in an

ING Cup The Ing Cup () is an international Go tournament with a cash prize of over US$400,000. It was created by, and is named after, Ing Chang-ki. The tournament is held once every four years and hence often nicknamed the Go Olympics. In the 7th Ing ...

one-day match. That was viewed by the

Western Australian Cricket Association The Western Australian Cricket Association (known as the WACA) is the governing body for cricket in Western Australia. The WACA was formed on 5 November 1885. In 1893 the association opened the WACA Ground. Elite cricket The WACA is responsible ...

as a breach of his playing contract, and Williams was suspended for the remainder of the season. When Western Australia announced their squad for the 2006/07 season he was the notable omission, ostensibly ending his cricket career.Brad Williams dropped from Western Australia squad
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International career

At the time he had raw speed and was widely tipped as a future star for the national team, although his debut for Australia didn't come until a One Day International match against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in January 2001. Williams had to wait until October 2003 for his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut but he struggled to hold down a regular spot in the national team, due in part to limited opportunity.

Career highlights

* Williams' best Test batting score of 10 not out was made against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, 2003–2004 * His best Test bowling figures of 4 for 53 came against India, Melbourne, 2003–2004 * Williams' best ODI batting score of 13 not out was made against New Zealand, Melbourne, 2001–2002 * His best ODI bowling figures of 5 for 22 came against Zimbabwe, Sydney, 2003–2004

References

External links

HowSTAT! statistical profile on Brad Williams

Cricinfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Brad 1974 births Living people Australia One Day International cricketers Australia Test cricketers Durham cricketers Victoria cricketers Western Australia cricketers Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers Australian cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in the United Kingdom Australian expatriate sportspeople in England People from Frankston, Victoria Cricketers from Melbourne