Peter Toohey (born 20 April 1954) is a former 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 striki ...

er who played in 15

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 five

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 between 1977 and 1979. Toohey was one of the cricketers who came to the fore when the bulk of Australia's top cricketers defected to

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

World Series Cricket World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to establishe ...

. During his prime playing years in the Australian Test team, some media commentators referred to Toohey as "Australia's master batsman", such was Toohey's pivotal role in the Australian team during the absence of the World Series players. When the World Series Cricket players returned to mainstream Test cricket in 1979–80, Toohey only played two more Tests, both in the summer of 1979–80. He retired from cricket and now works in the financial sector in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Career

Toohey was born in

Blayney, New South Wales Blayney is a farming town and administrative centre with a population of 3,378 in 2016, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Mid-Western Highway about west of Sydney, west of Bathurst and above sea-level, ...

, and played cricket for St Stanislaus' College in

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in ...

. He toured

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 ...

with Western Districts Colts and played for New South Wales Schoolboys before his first-class debut 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 ...

against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1974–75.Peter Hanlon, "When Peter Toohey was swept off his dancing feet"
''The Age'' 20 December 2014, accessed 30 March 2015

Test Player

During the 1977–78 season, defections to World Series Cricket saw opportunities open up for Australian cricketers. Toohey was selected for the first Test 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 ...

and played all five Tests that series. He was one of the standout performers on the 1978 tour of the West Indies. Toohey was dropped from the Australian side during the 1978–79 Ashes. He was overlooked for the 1979 tour to India. Toohey's form declined during the 1983–84 season and he was dropped from the NSW side. He eventually retired from first class cricket in May 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toohey, Peter 1954 births Living people Australia Test cricketers Australia One Day International cricketers New South Wales cricketers Australian cricketers Cricketers from New South Wales