Marie Janice Cornish OAM (; born 1 October 1956) is an Australian former

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 striki ...

er who played as a right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler and right-handed

batter Batter or batters may refer to: Common meanings * Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan * Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher * Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting * Batter ...

. She appeared in nine

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

and 16 One Day Internationals for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

between 1976 and 1982. She was vice-captain of the national team and played in Australia's victorious teams at the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and

1982 Women's Cricket World Cup The 1982 Women's Cricket World Cup, known as the 1982 Hansells Vita Fresh World Cup for sponsorship purposes, was an international cricket tournament played in New Zealand from 10 January to 7 February 1982. Hosted by New Zealand for the first ...

s. She played domestic cricket for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Personal life

Cornish was born Marie Janice Lutschini on 1 October 1956 in Wellington, New South Wales. She was the daughter of Peter and Jan Lutschini. Her paternal grandfather immigrated to Australia from the Soviet Union via Italy and Canada; his original Russian surname was Italianised. Her mother is of South African descent. Her brother Mitchell is a businessman in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and has served as deputy chairman of Cricket PNG. Cornish grew up in country New South Wales where her father worked as a farmhand. She spent her early years in

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...

before the family settled in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, where she attended Wellington High School.

Cricket career

From a young age Cornish played cricket on boys' teams. At the age of 15 she top-scored for the New South Wales Under-25s 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 ...

International career

Cornish made her international debut for Australia on a 1976 tour of the West Indies, aged 19. In the second

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), ...

of the series she took 5/51. Named vice-captain of Australia at the age of 22, Cornish played at the

1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

in India and the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

in New Zealand. She was at the crease when the winning runs were scored in the 1982 World Cup final against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, finishing with 24 not out as Australia won by three wickets with one over to spare.

Personal life

Cornish retired from international cricket at the age of 25 to work full-time at the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

. She had two children with her husband Peter, and remained involved in cricket as a coach, manager, and selector. In 2008, Cornish was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to cricket and the Wellington community. She was named a life member of

Cricket New South Wales Cricket NSW (officially known as the ''New South Wales Cricket Association'') is an Australian sporting association that administers cricket in New South Wales. It is based at the Sydney Olympic Park. The Speed Blitz Blues, New South Wales Blues, ...

in 2012 and the Marie Cornish Trophy is awarded to the winner of the state schoolgirls' knockout competition.

References

External links

* *
Marie Cornish
at

southernstars.org.au The Australian women's national cricket team (formerly also known as the Southern Stars) represent Australia in international women's cricket. Currently captained by Meg Lanning and coached by Shelley Nitschke, they are the top team in all worl ...

Living people 1956 births Cricketers from New South Wales People from Wellington, New South Wales Australia women Test cricketers Australia women One Day International cricketers New South Wales Breakers cricketers Australian people of Russian descent Australian people of South African descent {{Australia-cricket-bio-1950s-stub