Craig John McDermott (born 14 April 1965) 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 st ...

er. Between 1984 and 1996 he played 71 Tests for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, taking 291 wickets. Following the end of his playing career, he was the bowling coach for the Australian team for two spells between 2011 and 2016.

International career

McDermott was the spearhead of the Australian attack in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was powerfully built at 191 cm tall. He started his career with

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 , establishe ...

in 1983–84 and made his Test match debut for

in 1984–85 whilst still 19 v

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 Greate ...

(his youth engendering his nickname "Billy" – from

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...

). In his first Ashes tour of 1985, he took 30 wickets. But he was over-bowled and was burnt out. He had an excellent World Cup in 1987, helping Australia win the trophy. He took 18 wickets in the tournament, including 5/44 in the semi-final win over Pakistan. McDermott was a rhythm bowler, and when this was right, he would have an aggressive approach to the wicket and an excellent sideways-on action, giving him sharp pace and outswing. He always saved his best for

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 ...

, taking 32 wickets in the last full series that he was able to play before injuries took over. Injuries seemed to hit him at wrong times, and he missed the history-making West Indies tour of 1995, and most of the 1996 World Cup. He also missed most of the 1993 Ashes tour when

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australi ...

and

Merv Hughes Mervyn Gregory Hughes (born 23 November 1961) is a former Australian cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he represented Australia in 53 Test matches between 1985 and 1994, taking 212 wickets. He played 33 One Day Internationals, taking 38 wicke ...

shared the spoils in his absence. His best bowling analysis in Tests is 8/97 against England in 1991. He ended with 291 wickets from 70 Tests and 203 one-day wickets with the best analysis being the 5/44. In batting, even though McDermott's average was that of a tail-ender, he could still hit the ball with power and could stand his ground against fast bowling. In fact, two of the closest Tests that Australia lost, McDermott played a key role – In 1993, Australia lost the pivotal closest match in Test history by 1 run to West Indies when McDermott, on 18 and batting with stout resistance, was given out controversially when attempting to play a bouncer from

Courtney Walsh Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a former Jamaican cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats, best ...

. In 1994, he was on 29 not out in the Test against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

that Australia lost by 5 runs in chasing 117.

Five-wicket hauls

, a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

(also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s in a single

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is ...

. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and as of August 2015 only 43 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at the international level. Craig John McDermott is a former Australian cricketer who, according to the sports journalist Greg Baum, was "Australia's premier strike bowler in the early 1990s". A right-arm

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

, he played 71 Test matches and 138 ODIs in his career, taking 291 and 203 wickets respectively. He took fourteen five-wicket hauls in Test cricket, including two in a single ten-wicket match, and one in the ODI format. McDermott made his Test match debut for Australia against the

at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern ...

in December 1984, with

Richie Richardson Sir Richard Benjamin Richardson, KCN (born 12 January 1962) is a former West Indies international cricketer and a former captain of the West Indian cricket team. He was a flamboyant batsman and superb player of fast bowling. He was famous for ...

being his first Test victim. His first Test five-wicket haul came at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England ...

in the second Test of the

1985 Ashes series The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1985 season to play a six-match Test series against England. England won the series 3–1 with two matches drawn. England therefore regained The Ashes. Test series summary First Test Second ...

in June of that year, taking 6 wickets for 70 runs in a 4-wicket victory for Australia. McDermott's best

bowling analysis In cricket, a bowling analysis (sometimes shortened to just analysis, especially in the phrase innings analysis, and also referred to as bowling figures) usually refers to a notation summarising a bowler's performance in terms of overs bowled, h ...

in Test cricket is 8 for 97 against England in the fifth Test of the

1990–91 Ashes series The England cricket team toured Australia in the 1990–91 season to play a five-match Test series against Australia for The Ashes. The Australians were the holders, having reclaimed the Ashes in England during the 1989 Ashes series, however the ...

. He was most successful against England, taking eight of his fourteen five-wicket hauls against them, including four during the 1994–95 Ashes in which he was named player of the series. McDermott's ODI debut came against the West Indies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in January 1985. He did not bat and although he took the wicket of

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

, Australia lost the game by seven wickets. McDermott played 138 ODIs, and took a solitary five-wicket haul against Pakistan in November 1987, in the

Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), ...

semi-final. His figures of 5 for 44, and an Australian victory by 18 runs, saw him awarded man of the match as Australia progressed to the final.

Coaching career

On 12 May 2011, it was announced that McDermott had been appointed the new bowling coach for the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

replacing

Troy Cooley Troy James Cooley (born 9 December 1965) is a former first-class cricketer who played for Tasmania, and was bowling coach for the England cricket team for several years before returning to Australia in 2006. Career Born in Launceston, Tasmania ...

. On 11 May 2012, McDermott announced his resignation as Australia's bowling coach, citing the heavy touring schedule as the reason. Craig McDermott has been appointed as the new bowling coach and consultant for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

cricket team. In November 2012, he announced that he would be opening a fast-bowling clinic. McDermott returned to a coaching role with the Australian cricket team on a two-year contract in May 2014.

Personal life

McDermott's sons, Alister McDermott and Ben McDermott are cricketers, playing for Queensland and Tasmania respectively.

References

External links

*
Gold Coast Sporting Hall of Fame Craig McDermott
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Craig 1965 births Australian cricketers Australia Test cricketers Australia One Day International cricketers Australian cricket coaches Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers from Queensland Coaches of the Australia national cricket team Living people Sportspeople from Ipswich, Queensland Queensland cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year