Ashley Mallett
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| Ashley Mallett | ||||
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 Australia |
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| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting style | Right-handed batsman | |||
| Bowling style | Right-arm off spin | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| Tests | ODIs | |||
| Matches | 38 | 9 | ||
| Runs scored | 430 | 14 | ||
| Batting average | 11.62 | 7.00 | ||
| 100s/50s | 0/0 | 0/0 | ||
| Top score | 43* | 8 | ||
| Overs | 1665 | 83.4 | ||
| Wickets | 132 | 11 | ||
| Bowling average | 29.84 | 31.00 | ||
| 5 wickets in innings | 6 | 0 | ||
| 10 wickets in match | 1 | n/a | ||
| Best bowling | 8/59 | 3/34 | ||
| Catches/stumpings | 30/0 | 4/0 | ||
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As of 3 December 2005 |
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Ashley Alexander Mallett (born July 13, 1945 in Chatswood, New South Wales) was an Australian cricketer who played in 38 Tests and 9 One Day Internationals between 1968 and 1980. He is Australia's most successful off spin bowler since World War II and for a period in the 1970s, he was regarded along with India’s Erapalli Prasanna and the West Indies’ Lance Gibbs as the best off spinner in the world. He extracted a lot of bounce from his high arm action, coupled with his height.[1]
Mallett was a member of the Western Australian squad in the 1966–67 season, but made no appearances, only being 12th man in two Sheffield Shield matches. On the bouncy pace friendly WACA Ground, where the Western Australians played their home matches, only one spinner was required, and left arm orthodox spinner Tony Lock, the English Test player blocked Mallett’s path. Along with young leg spinner Terry Jenner, Mallett transferred to South Australia in 1967, and immediately became regular members of the state team, which often fielded two spinners on the Adelaide Oval surface. They were to form an effective and attacking tandem spin combination for a decade. After strong performances in the 1967–68 Shield season, Mallett was selected in the Australian team to tour England in 1968 under Bill Lawry. Mallett made his Test debut in the Fifth Test, taking the wicket of Colin Cowdrey with his fifth ball. Mallett was to tour England three more times, in 1972, 1975 and 1980, but was never at his best there.[1]
Mallett was not highly regarded by Lawry. In Australia’s 1969–70 tour to India, Mallett took 28 wickets in Australia’s last Test series victory there for 35 years. He followed this with six wickets in the following Test on the tour of South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town on a hard pitch not conducive to spin bowling, but was immediately dropped.[1]
Returning to the Shield competition, Mallett performed consistently , with 54 and 62 wickets at an average of 19 in the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons allowing him a Test recall. In his earlier years, Mallet bowled with a high arm action, curving the ball away from the right hander before breaking it inwards. He took 8/59 on his home ground in Adelaide against Pakistan in 1972–73 but missed the subsequent tour to the West Indies. Although Mallett was immediately playing Tests in the following season, reaching his 100 wicket milestone in his 23rd Test, he was subsequently used in a defensive capacity from the mid 1970s onwards. Keeping one end tight while Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee attacked the opposition with pace from the other, he only managed 32 wickets in his last 15 Tests.[1]
Mallett had a productive Shield career, taking 391 wickets in 91 matches, second only to Clarrie Grimmett. In tandem with Jenner, he was part of a successful era in South Australian cricket, playing in three Sheffield Shield winning sides in 1968–69, 1970–71 and 1975–76. his best bowling was 13/122 against his native state in 1971–72. As the end of his career approached, he was plagued by arthritis, leading to a lower bowling action which curtailed his effectiveness. His last Test was at The Oval in 1980.[1]
Mallett had little ability with the bat, with a Test best of 43* made on his debut against England, with a first class best of 92 against Western Australia. He had good reflexes and completed many difficult catches in the gully position, despite appearing to be short sighted. He captained the state team on two occasions in 1980–81, his final season.
Later becoming a journalist and commentator, he wrote biographies of Victor Trumper and Grimmett.[1] He also wrote a book about the Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868[2]
[edit] Current
Mallett is currently employed by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board and travels there three times a year as a consultant spin coach.
[edit] References
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