Paul Jacob Christopher Hoffmann (born 14 January 1970), is an Australian cricketer who has played for the cricket teams of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler.

Early life

Hoffmann was born on 14 January 1970 in

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

, Australia.

Career

As a youngster, Hoffmann competed as a woodchopper, following in his father's footsteps. However at the age of 12, while chopping barefoot, he slipped and removed the tip of his left big toe. Following this horrific event Paul never regained his technique and turned to cricket to fill the void. After playing for the Australian Country team against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

in 1993 and for Manly in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Hoffmann emigrated to Scotland in 1997, first playing for the Uddingston club as an overseas professional. He liked it so much that he stayed on and played as an amateur. Hoffmann is the leading wicket taker in the history of the Scottish National League, with 282 wickets. Hoffmann qualified by residence to play for

in 2001, making his début in a match against an England Amateur team on 14 August 2001, taking five wickets. He went on to play for Scotland on 119 occasions. This includes fifteen

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s, his first match of that type coming against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in June 2006. Taking 3 for 22 off his 10 overs, including Salman Butt and Younis Khan. Hoffmann played for Scotland in their winning

2005 ICC Trophy The 2005 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament held in Ireland between 1 July and 13 July 2005. It was an international one-day tournament played over 50 overs per side between 12 Associate Members of the International Cricket Council. It served a ...

campaign and was the top wicket-taker in the tournament with 17 wickets. This included taking 6 wickets for 12 runs against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

, a record for Scotland in

ICC Trophy The ICC World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the Cricket World Cup qualifi ...

competition. In the 2007 World Cricket League tournament in Kenya he bowled Scotland to victory over Netherlands with a heroic last over taking two wickets in three balls for 0 runs, with a run out accounting for the 2nd wicket of the three that fell in the over. A hard-hitting batsman, Hoffmann holds the record for the fastest century in Scottish National League cricket history, smashing 100 off 35 balls for his club

Uddingston Uddingston ( sco, Uddinstoun, gd, Baile Udain) is a small town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the north side of the River Clyde, south-east of Glasgow city centre, and acts as a dormitory suburb for the city. Geography and boundaries ...

in May 2005. He was an important member of the

Scottish Saltires The Scotland national cricket team represents the country of Scotland. They play their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh, and also some other venues. Scotland became Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1994

cricket team and was part of their squad for the Cricket World Cup in March 2007. Hoffmann retired from International cricket in August 2007, returning typically miserly figures of 9 overs for 43 in his final game 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 ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He now lives in Uddingston with his family and Chopper, his beloved Doberman.

References

External links

Cricket Online ProfileUddingston Cricket Club
* 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Rockhampton Australian cricketers Scottish cricketers Scotland One Day International cricketers Cricketers from Queensland Australian emigrants to Scotland {{scotland-cricket-bio-stub