Michael Gray Dighton (born 24 April 1976) is 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 ...
coach and former player. He played domestic cricket for
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 ...
and
Tasmania
)
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, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
as well as English county cricket for
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
and
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. He was head coach of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
from 2011 to 2012.
Playing career
Dighton was educated at
Kent Street Senior High School
Kent Street Senior High School is a public co-educational specialist high day and boarding school in the Town of Victoria Park, located on Kent Street in East Victoria Park, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Over 50 percent of students a ...
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 began his career with the
Western Warriors
The Western Australian Men’s cricket team, formerly nicknamed the Western Warriors, represent the Australian state of Western Australia in Australian Cricket in Australia, domestic cricket. The team is selected and supported by the Western A ...
but later switched to 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 ...
. He plays club cricket for
North Hobart Cricket Club. He is an opening batsman, particularly in
One-day cricket
Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty ...
, and played a leading role in the Tigers victorious
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 ...
campaign of 2004–05. He bowls occasional leg spin, and is also a wicket-keeper. Dighton has failed to recapture the form which saw him score at an average of 55 in 2003 in the
Pura Cup
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 ...
, but still retains his place as one-day opener.
In 2007, he recorded the best bowling figures by a bowler on T20 debut (6-25) and was the only debutant to take a 6 wicket haul on T20 debut.
On 15 November 2008, Dighton scored 34 off 13 balls for the Emirates All*Stars against the Australian National Team in an exhibition Twenty/20 match. He and Adam Gilchrist scored quickly, hitting boundaries and helping the team (specially made for the occasion) on to win. During the fielding innings, he caught a surprising
one handed catch in the deep to dismiss
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White (born 18 August 1983) is an Australian former international cricketer who captained the national side in Twenty20 Internationals. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cr ...
.
Coaching career
Dighton was appointed head coach of the
Canada national cricket team in September 2011. He resigned in April 2012 after the team failed to progress through the
2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dighton, Michael
1976 births
Living people
Australian cricket coaches
Australian cricketers
Coaches of the Canada national cricket team
Cricketers from Toowoomba
Derbyshire cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
Netherlands cricketers
People educated at Kent Street Senior High School
Tasmania cricketers
Western Australia cricketers
Australian expatriates in Canada