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Full name Simon Patrick O'Donnell
Born January 26, 1963, Deniliquin, New South Wales
Current age 45 years 258 days
Major teams Australia,Northumberland,Victoria
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Other Commentator
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
6
10
3
206
48
29.42
471
43.73
0
0
19
3
4
0
ODIs
87
64
15
1242
74*
25.34
1534
80.96
0
9
22
0
First-class
83
133
16
4603
130
39.34
7
31
60
0
List A
116
89
18
1784
74*
25.12
0
12
27
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
6
10
940
504
6
3/37
4/114
84.00
3.21
156.6
0
0
0
ODIs
87
87
4350
3102
108
5/13
5/13
28.72
4.27
40.2
5
1
0
First-class
83
11647
5642
151
6/54
37.36
2.90
77.1
2
0
List A
116
5827
4092
126
5/13
5/13
32.47
4.21
46.2
5
1
0
Career statistics
Test debut
England v Australia at Leeds, Jun 13-18, 1985 scorecard
Last Test
Australia v New Zealand at Sydney, Nov 22-26, 1985 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
Australia v West Indies at Melbourne, Jan 6, 1985 scorecard
Last ODI
Australia v India at Hobart, Dec 10, 1991 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span
1983/84 - 1992/93
List A span
1984/85 - 1992/93
Profile
Multi-talented athlete Simon O'Donnell ended a promising Australian Rules football career to focus on cricket. He went on to become a valuable all-rounder in the Australian one-day team, and was a member of the side when it marked its resurgence with a surprise World Cup win in 1987. O'Donnell the cricketer is most keenly remembered for a number of explosive innings in Australia's middle-lower order. His clean, powerful drives straight of the wicket and through mid-on were particularly effective. His feats included an 18-ball half-century against Sri Lanka in 1990, which remained the fastest 50 scored in ODI cricket for almost six years. However, O'Donnell's intelligent fast-medium bowling often proved to be more pivotal in Australia's one-day fortunes. In the 1987 World Cup he had limited impact with the bat but was a significant wicket-taker and finished the tournament as Australia's most economical bowler.
O'Donnell was diagnosed with cancer at the end of the tournament. He made a strong recovery and returned to one-day international cricket from 1988-89.
Since his retirement from cricket, O'Donnell has become a member of the Nine Network's commentary team, and is the regular host of The Cricket Show, which airs during the lunch breaks of Tests in Australia.
Anthony Fallick (June 2002)
