Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Mervyn Gregory Hughes
Born November 23, 1961, Euroa, Victoria
Current age 46 years 176 days
Major teams Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Essex, Victoria
Nickname Fruitfly (the biggest Australian pest!)
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	53	70	8	1032	72*	16.64	2233	46.21	2	96	17	23
ODIs	33	17	8	100	20	11.11	134	74.62	0	6	4	6
First-class	165	196	45	2649	72*	17.54			7			56
List A	88	46	15	264	20	8.51			0			19

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	53	97	12285	6017	212	8/87	13/217	28.38	2.93	57.9	14	7	1
ODIs	33	33	1639	1115	38	4/44	4/44	29.34	4.08	43.1	1	0	0
First-class	165		34881	17429	593	8/87		29.39	2.99	58.8		21	3
List A	88		4466	3151	105	5/41	5/41	30.00	4.23	42.5	2	1	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Australia v India at Adelaide, Dec 13-17, 1985 scorecard
Last Test	South Africa v Australia at Cape Town, Mar 17-21, 1994 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Australia v Pakistan at Adelaide, Dec 11, 1988 scorecard
Last ODI	England v Australia at Lord's, May 23, 1993 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span	1981/82 - 1994/95
List A span	1981/82 - 1998/99

Profile

Merv Hughes was a big-hearted fast bowler who ultimately made a major contribution to Australia's fortunes. A crowd favourite, he was a lively character armed with an imposing run-up and delivery action, a classic fast bowlers' glare down the pitch, a mischievous sense of humour and a moustache of incredible proportions. And while his antics sometimes overshadowed his bowling, Hughes gave every ounce of effort to his country, and helped it to re-climb the ranks of Test cricket. Hughes made a comparatively modest entrance in the mid-1980s, but his value came to the fore against West Indies in 1988-89, when he lost pace partner Geoff Lawson to a broken jaw in the second Test. Hughes gained a hat-trick in that match, but his performance - 13 for 217 off 73.1 overs - illustrated his ability to combine the roles of spearhead and stock bowler.

By the mid-point of his international career, Hughes had improved his accuracy and variation and was using his bouncer, which remained a favourite throughout his career, with greater discretion. After ducks in his first three Test innings, he also become a handy batsman - albeit one who favoured a powerful, tail-enders' hoick over midwicket - and had a top score of 72 against the mighty West Indians of 1988-89. Hughes saved his greatest series performance for the 1993 Ashes tour, when bowling partner Craig McDermott was ruled out with a twisted bowel. Over the six Tests, Hughes took 31 wickets from almost 300 overs, helping Australia to a 4-1 victory.

Hughes sustained a serious knee injury during the series and made only a fleeting Test comeback the following summer, finishing with 212 career wickets. However, his enthusiasm for the game continued long after his international days. He appeared for the Canberra Comets during their experiment against the states in domestic one-day cricket, and became a veteran of his local club Footscray in Melbourne. A host of supporters' tours, he made the surprise step into high-level administration when he replaced Allan Border as an Australian selector in 2005. Dressed in a suit and with contemporary glasses he looks anything but the man who mixed jest with aggression as one of the country's most recognisable players.
Cricinfo staff

Dec 24, 2007

Merv Hughes takes part in a promotional event for alcohol control
© Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

Dec 12, 2006

Merv Hughes bounds up to the crease for Australia in the Legends Twenty20
© Getty Images

Nov 16, 2006

Merv Hughes at the announcement of the Australian squad for the first Test
© Getty Images

View the full list of 15 related images