Michael Klinger
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Michael Klinger (born 4 July 1980) is an Australian former first-class cricketer, who held the record for the most runs scored in the
Big Bash League The Big Bash League (known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, often abbreviated to BBL or Big Bash) is an Australian professional club Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. The Big Bash Le ...
when he retired in 2019. Until the 2008–09 season, Klinger played 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 ...
and for
St Kilda Cricket Club St Kilda Cricket Club is a cricket club playing in Victorian Premier Cricket, the elite club cricket competition in Melbourne, Australia.The club's home ground is the St Kilda Cricket Ground, more commonly known as Junction Oval. History The ...
in
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 ...
. He joined the
South Australia Redbacks The South Australia cricket team, officially named the West End Redbacks, is an Australian men's professional first class cricket, first-class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia. The Redbacks play their home matches at Adelaide Ova ...
for the 2008–09 season, was named their Captain in 2010, and was recognised as the State Player of the Year in both 2009 and 2010. He was one of the 350 players under the hammer for the
IPL The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
Auction 2011, and was bought by
Kochi Tuskers Kerala Kochi Tuskers Kerala was a franchise cricket team that played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) representing the city of Kochi, Kerala. The team was one of two new franchises added to the IPL for the 2011 season, alongside Pune Warriors India ...
. In 2014 he was recruited by the
Perth Scorchers The Perth Scorchers is an Australian domestic Twenty20 franchise cricket team representing the Western Australian city of Perth in the Big Bash League (BBL). The Scorchers are the current BBL Champions, having defeated the Sydney Sixers in the ...
and then also played 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 ...
. In March 2018, he announced his retirement from first-class cricket.


Personal life

Klinger was born in
Kew, Victoria Kew (;) is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km east from Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara Local government areas of Victor ...
, Australia, and is Jewish.">"Aussie cricketer Michael Klinger talks to Jewish News ahead of The Ashes", ''The Times of Israel''.
/ref> He completed an undergraduate applied science degree in Human Movement, and a Master of Business (Sport Management) degree at
Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...
.


Career

As a young batsman, Klinger was named Captain of the Australia Under 19's Men's Cricket team – his deputy being Michael Clarke who subsequently became captain of the national team. Klinger began as an 18-year-old in the 1998–99 season. His career lowlight was the 2000–01 season when he made a famous 99 not out, with captain
Paul Reiffel Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
declaring the innings closed, a move which brought great controversy and remains the only batsman in Australian cricket to be stranded on 99 due to a declaration. This caused Klinger some great upset, and following it Klinger had several less successful years, but returned to contention for a spot in 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 competi ...
side for the 2005–06 season. He quickly made his first first-class century, and then followed it up with his first
List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...
one-day century, but his first-class form soon dropped, and he was replaced in the side by Lloyd Mash, not to return in the Pura Cup all season. In 2003 he was the club professional for
Walkden Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Salford, and of Manchester. Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire, Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture. In 2014, ...
in the
Bolton Cricket League The Bolton Cricket League is a cricket league comprising fifteen teams in and around Bolton, Greater Manchester in North West England. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels. It exp ...
. In Season 2006–07 he started off in the outer from the Pura Cup side, but started off his Ford Ranger Cup season in style, nearly getting a century early on, and then following it up with one. He led the runs scoring in the competition for much of the season, eventually finishing 3rd. Klinger's rise to the Pura Cup team came only when
Brad Hodge Bradley John Hodge (born 29 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman who batted in the middle order, as well as a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler. Hodge was a prolific run-scorer in ...
was called up by Australia for their ODI Series, and Klinger's recent form had been wavy, with his last game for the 2nd XI yielding a first innings
duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...
, but second innings century. Klinger was soon to do the same for the 1st XI, but the century ensured that when Hodge returned, Klinger survived. He finished the season as a regular fixture of the Bushrangers side, and was part of a great partnership with
David Hussey David John Hussey (born 15 July 1977) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. Hussey is a right-handed batter and can also bowl right-arm off breaks. He is the younger brother of former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey. He was ...
in a match against NSW, in which the Vics defied all odds to chase down a massive total of 360 on an extremely poor 4th day pitch (it was later described as a 3rd day pitch on day 1 by Hussey), scoring 102.


Move to South Australia

Klinger joined the South Australia Redbacks for the 2008–09 season in order to get more opportunities at state level, where he began batting at number 3 rather than opening, and saw immediate success, scoring a maiden 150 not out against old state Victoria in his first game. Then, against Western Australia on 11 November, Klinger scored his maiden double century, finishing on 255, and he continued to score heavily in both the
Sheffield Shield 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 the
Ford Ranger Cup The One-Day Cup, known as the Marsh One-Day Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an Australian domestic List A 50-over limited-overs cricket tournament. It has had many different names, formats and teams since the inaugural 1969-1970 season. Initi ...
, and hit his third century for the season against Queensland at the Gabba, and his first away from the traditionally batting friendly
Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...
. On 11 December 2008, Klinger posted his highest individual score in one day cricket, with an unbeaten 133 off just 128 balls. This guided South Australia to victory in their high-scoring match against the
Tasmania 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 ...
at the
Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...
. This was Klinger's fourth one-day century. He won the Australian Cricketers' Association's December 2008 Johnnie Walker player-of-the-month award. In 2010, Klinger was named Captain of the Redbacks. In November 2019, he was appointed as the head coach of
Melbourne Renegades The Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash ...
, an Australian franchise professional men's Twenty20 cricket team. He replaced former all-rounder Andrew McDonald who resigned for becoming Australia's assistant coach.


Indian Premier League

Klinger was one of the 350 players under the hammer for the
IPL The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
Auction 2011, and was bought by
Kochi Tuskers Kerala Kochi Tuskers Kerala was a franchise cricket team that played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) representing the city of Kochi, Kerala. The team was one of two new franchises added to the IPL for the 2011 season, alongside Pune Warriors India ...
for
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
75,000.


Gloucestershire

In December 2012, Klinger was signed by
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Gloucestershire. Founded in 1870, Gloucestershire have always ...
, not only as their overseas player for the 2013 season, but also as their captain, taking over from
Alex Gidman Alexander Peter Richard Gidman (born 22 June 1981) is an English cricket coach and former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire and Worceste ...
. He had previously stood in for
Phillip Hughes Phillip Joel Hughes (30 November 1988 – 27 November 2014) was an Australian Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia and Worcestershire. He was a left-handed opening batsman who play ...
at
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
at the beginning of the previous season. He scored over 1000 runs in the County Championship, scoring 6 centuries, plus another 1000 runs in the limited over competitions. Due to his success, Klinger returned to captain Gloucs again for the 2014 season. He was their leading run scorer in the One Day Cup, until he broke his arm playing against Derbyshire in August. In August 2015, he was confirmed as staying with the club for the 2016 season.


Western Australia

Klinger signed a two-year contract with Western Australia in April 2014. He recovered from the broken arm to make his debut for WA in the
2014–15 Matador BBQs One-Day Cup The 2014 Matador BBQs One-Day Cup was the 45th season of the official List A domestic cricket competition in Australia. It was played over a four-week period at the start of the domestic season to separate its schedule from the Sheffield Shield ...
in October. Klinger scored 71 runs (not out) for the Perth Scorchers as they beat the Sydney Sixers to win the Big Bash League , 06 in January 2017.


International career

Klinger competed for Australia at the 1997 Maccabiah Games in Israel winning a gold medal, when he was 17 years old. In February 2017 Klinger was named in Australia's
Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...
(T20I) squad for their series against Sri Lanka. He made his T20I debut for Australia against Sri Lanka 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, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...
on 17 February 2017. At the age of 36, Klinger became the oldest player for Australia to debut in a T20I. Despite having the 20th highest List A batting average of all time (49.33) and the second highest by an Australian, Klinger never played a One Day International.


Awards

* State Cricket Players of the Year: 2009 * State Cricket Players of the Year: 2010


See also

* List of select Jewish cricketers


References


Sources

* Miller, A. (2001) ''Allan's Cricket Annual'', Allan Miller: Perth. .


External links

*
Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klinger, Michael 1980 births Living people Adelaide Strikers cricketers Australia Twenty20 International cricketers Australian cricketers Gloucestershire cricket captains Gloucestershire cricketers Jewish Australian sportspeople Jewish cricketers Kensington cricketers Kochi Tuskers Kerala cricketers Maccabiah Games medalists in cricket Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Australia Competitors at the 1997 Maccabiah Games Perth Scorchers cricketers South Australia cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne Victoria cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Western Australia cricketers Deakin University alumni People from Kew, Victoria Australian people of German-Jewish descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in England