Bruce Dooland (1 November 1923 – 8 September 1980) was an Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played in three Test matches for the

Australian national cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...

during the late 1940s. During the war Dooland was in an Australian Commando unit serving in the South Pacific. A member of

Z Special Unit Z Special Unit () was a joint Allied special forces unit formed during the Second World War to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. Predominantly Australian, Z Special Unit was a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit that i ...

, he took part in rescue, intelligence and sabotage missions in

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, often behind enemy lines. Greg Growden, ''Cricketers at War'', ABC Books, Sydney, 2019, pp. 228–39. After the war, he played

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

cricket for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and took the first post-war hat-trick in Australia. In 1946–47 he was called up for the Third Test in Melbourne against England and took 4/69 and 1/84. More importantly he held up one end while Colin McCool made his maiden Test century. He was kept for the Fourth Test in Melbourne and again defended stoutly while

Keith Miller Keith Ross Miller (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent m ...

made his maiden Test century, but returned match figures of 3/198 and was dropped in favour of

George Tribe George Edward Tribe (4 October 1920 – 5 April 2009) was an Australian cricketer who played in three Test matches from 1946 to 1947, as well as an Australian rules footballer with the Footscray Football Club in the VFL. Cricket career Tr ...

. His Test career ended when, after

Doug Ring Douglas Thomas Ring (14 October 1918 – 23 June 2003) was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and for Australia in 13 Test matches between 1948 and 1953. In 129 first-class cricket matches, he took 426 wickets bowling leg spin, a ...

and Colin McCool were preferred as the

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

bowlers in the 1948 Australian touring party to England, he came to England to play in the Lancashire League and then qualified by residence to play for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

(Notts). In 1950–51 He toured

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 ...

with the Commonwealth team. The county team was at a low ebb and Dooland had the responsibility of being the first overseas import brought in specifically to strengthen the team. He played for them from 1953 to 1957, scoring 4,782 runs at an average of 24.52 and taking 770 wickets at 18.86. He completed the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season twice and in another season missed it by only 30 runs. He took 16 for 83 in the match against Essex at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also ...

in 1954Nottinghamshire v Essex 1954
Cricket Archive and his total of 181 wickets for Nottinghamshire that season remains the club's record. Following his departure, Notts had their worst-ever period in terms of results. Dooland played twice for the Players in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

match, and was a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1955. In 1956, when the Australian touring team played Notts, he taught

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who, after his retirement from international cricket in 1964, became a highly regarded commentator on the game. Benaud was a Test cricket all-rounder, blending l ...

how to bowl the flipper. He also played baseball for the West Torrens Baseball Club and was regarded as one of the best pitchers in his state, and represented Australia at baseball as well as cricket. He is West Torrens Baseball Club Team of the Century member.

References

External links

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Wisden obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dooland, Bruce 1923 births 1980 deaths Military personnel from South Australia Australian baseball players Australia Test cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Players cricketers South Australia cricketers Cricketers from Adelaide Wisden Cricketers of the Year Australian Army soldiers North v South cricketers L. E. G. Ames' XI cricketers Z Special Unit personnel