Greg Blewett
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| Greg Blewett | ||||
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 Australia |
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| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting style | Right-hand bat | |||
| Bowling style | Right-arm medium | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| Tests | ODIs | |||
| Matches | 46 | 32 | ||
| Runs scored | 2552 | 551 | ||
| Batting average | 34.02 | 20.40 | ||
| 100s/50s | 4/15 | -/2 | ||
| Top score | 214 | 57* | ||
| Balls bowled | 1436 | 749 | ||
| Wickets | 14 | 14 | ||
| Bowling average | 51.42 | 46.14 | ||
| 5 wickets in innings | - | - | ||
| 10 wickets in match | - | n/a | ||
| Best bowling | 2/9 | 2/6 | ||
| Catches/stumpings | 45/- | 7/- | ||
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As of 12 December 2005 |
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Gregory Scott Blewett (born 29 October 1971, Adelaide, South Australia) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 46 Tests and 32 ODIs from 1995 to 2000.
Blewett came into the Australian Test Team in January 1995 against England in Adelaide, scoring a century on debut. He followed that up with another century in Perth and another in Edgbaston (1997), thus scoring three centuries in his first three Ashes Tests; a unique statistic. At his best, he could pull anything short with ease and was difficult to stop. He was noted for his strong play square of the wicket, which is highly rewarded at his home ground, the Adelaide Oval, with its short square boundaries. His highest score of 214 was against South Africa, reaching a double-century in Johannesburg. Most of those runs were with Steve Waugh in one of the biggest partnerships ever, when they batted unbroken for a whole day.
However, he has been known to struggle against spin bowling. He has been dismissed in the past by the likes of Mushtaq Ahmed and Anil Kumble. After a successful first year in the international arena, he encountered Mushtaq when Pakistan visited Australia in the 1995/96 season. He was completely unable to pick Mushtaq's wrong 'un and was continuously dismissed either LBW or bowled after either incorrectly leaving the ball or playing down the wrong line. He was subsequently replaced by Ricky Ponting, but in late 1996, regained his position after Ponting himself had fallen upon hard times. Blewett then performed well, until the 1998 tour to India, where he was tormented by Kumble, and again dropped in favour of Justin Langer.
His record in India, a spin-dominated country, is abysmal (48 runs at an average of 8). However, upon the retirement of captain Mark Taylor in 1999, Blewett assumed his role as an opener, until he was dropped in favour of Matthew Hayden in early 2000 after a period of indifferent form.
Steve Waugh also noted that Blewett "[had] a technical flaw when facing deliveries that swung in...[as] he often left an inviting gap between bat and pad." [1]
Test and ODI averages of 34 and 20 respectively also reflect his inability to, according to Waugh, "align...talent with results". Waugh blames this failure on a "lack of discipline and...self-belief." [1]
He also bowled some useful medium pace seamers and was used primarily as the fifth bowler in ODIs.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Waugh, Steve (2005). STEVE WAUGH: Out of my comfort zone - the autobiography. Victoria: Penguin Group (Australia), 336–337. ISBN 0-670-04198-X.
