Robert James Cassell (born 28 April 1983 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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 ...

) is an

n cricketer and international coach who played first-class cricket for the

Victorian Bushrangers The Victoria men’s cricket team is an Australian first-class men's cricket team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The men’s team, which first played in 1851, represents the state of Victoria in the Marsh Sheffield Shield first-class compe ...

and South Australian Redbacks and also represented Australia in the 2002 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in

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 ...

Playing career

Victoria Bushrangers

Cassell is a Fast Medium bowler with a number of first class and one day appearances to his name. At 188 cm, he was considered a genuine future prospect for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

from an early age. Cassell was a highly touted youngster for the

taking 4–33 in his first-class debut in 2002 against the

Queensland Bulls The Queensland cricket team or the Queensland Bulls is the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket side in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments: *Sheffield Shield: four-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926–27 sea ...

. But injuries limited him to just a handful of First-Class and One-Day games. Cassell's performances in those early matches for the Bushrangers suggested potential, with 7 wickets (at an average of 22.71) 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 ...

and 4 wickets in the

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 ...

at 22.50. Cassell played much of his early state cricket in the 2002–2003 season. Despite the Bushrangers baring through injury setbacks, 2006/07 proved a challenging season for Cassell. When frontline bowlers

Shane Harwood Shane Michael Harwood (born 1 March 1974) is an Australian former international cricketer who played for the Victoria cricket team. He played in one One Day International and three Twenty20 International matches. Early life Harwood grew up in ...

, Allan Wise and Gerard Denton all found themselves injured throughout the season, but Cassell remained injured himself, it left the opportunity to

Clinton McKay Clinton James McKay (born 22 February 1983) is an Australian former international cricketer. He was a member of the Victoria side and has represented Australia at One Day International (ODI) and Test level. A right-arm fast-medium bowler who ...

, Darren Pattinson and

Grant Lindsay Grant Paul Lindsay (born 25 August 1979) is an Australian cricketer who played for the Victorian Bushrangers The Victoria men’s cricket team is an Australian first-class men's cricket team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The men’s team ...

to make the step up to the state side. McKay and Pattison were both offered contracts in the place of Cassell due to injury and Brad Knowles. Cassell went through a period of two years where he couldn't play due to injury, spending time to recover physically and mentally to have another run at first-class cricket. Cassell went overseas believing he would never play cricket again but the urge returned when he found himself watching a Test on TV in a bar in Barcelona in 2008. In 2009 Cassell returned to cricket after remodelling his action (due to his legacy injuries) at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane and played

Premier Cricket Grade cricket, also known as Premier Cricket is the name of the senior inter-club or district cricket competitions in each of the Australian states and territories. The term may refer to: *Victorian Premier Cricket *NSW Premier Cricket *Queensla ...

for the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, ...

. He broke back into the Victorian team in late 2009 a successful return to first-class cricket in Australia.

South Australia Redbacks

In 2010 after a successful return to playing, Cassell made the tough decision to leave his home state Victoria, and move to South Australia to take up an offer with the

South Australia Redbacks The South Australia cricket team, officially named the West End Redbacks, is an Australian men's professional first-class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia. The Redbacks play their home matches at Adelaide Oval and are the state c ...

where he believed his bowling opportunities would be greater. This proved to be a smart decision with a number of outstanding performances with the Redbacks including a huge 6-53 off 16.1 overs in November 2010 against Queensland in a Sheffield Shield match. Cassell went on to successfully play for the Redbacks during the 2010 and 2011 seasons until his genetic back injuries cut his bowling career short again.

Coaching career

South Australia Redbacks

Cassell took up a position with the Redbacks as a bowling coach helping the development of their upcoming talent. Cassell continued to coach with South Australia until 2017. Over the five years as a coach in South Australia, Cassell has helped leg-spinner

Adam Zampa Adam Zampa (born 31 March 1992) is an Australian international cricketer who represents Australian cricket team in limited-overs cricket. Youth career As a child, Zampa bowled medium pace, but Cricket Australia had placed restrictions on how m ...

become a regular for Australia's ODI and T20 sides, and has also worked closely with Joe Mennie who made his Test debut last season. Cassell quietly forged a reputation as a bowling guru in his time at the Adelaide Oval five years ago under former Redbacks head coach

Darren Berry Darren Shane Berry (born 10 December 1969) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who was known for his sharp skills as a wicketkeeper, first with South Australia and then Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and ING Cup domestic compe ...

. Cassell helped transform interstate 'cast-offs' including Mennie and Daniel Worrall, while bringing the best out of homegrown favourites Chadd Sayers and

Kane Richardson Kane William Richardson (born 12 February 1991) is an Australian international cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the Melbourne Renegades. Since 2013, Richardson has played international cricket for Australia in both One Day Internatio ...

Ireland National Cricket Team

In 2017 Cassell left South Australia to take up an opportunity as Assistant Head Coach and National Fast Bowling Coach with the

Ireland cricket team The Ireland cricket team represents all of Ireland in international cricket. The Irish Cricket Union, operating under the brand Cricket Ireland is the sport's governing body in Ireland, and organises the international team. Ireland particip ...

working under head coach

Graham Ford Graham Xavier Ford (born 16 November 1960) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. Formerly the head coach of the Sri Lankan national cricket team, he was also the head coach of the Ireland cricket team. A right-handed batsman, h ...

. Ireland were in the process of admission to full

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

(ICC) status which was successfully granted.

IPL

He was appointed as bowling coach for

Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan Royals (often abbreviated as RR) are a franchise cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 as one of the initial eight IPL franchises, the team is based at the Sawai Ma ...

References

External links

Rob Cassell Player Profile on cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassell, Rob 1983 births Living people Australian cricketers Victoria cricketers Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne South Australia cricketers