It is often said that Test cricket is the toughest format of them all. A player’s character, mental toughness is tested throughout the five days of the game. The format is considered a benchmark where if a cricketer succeeds then in probability he will do well in the other forms too.
Australia over the years have had the best in the country playing for them at the international level. But sometimes a few failures become setbacks for champion cricketers.
Here in this article, we look at five Australian players who were brilliant in First Class cricket but failed to replicate the same form in Test matches.
#5 Callum Ferguson
At age 32 he finally made his Test debut for Australia but was immediately dropped after the game against South Africa in November last year.
Ferguson managed to score just 4 runs in both innings and South Africa won the game by an innings and 80 runs. It is unlikely that the South Australian batter will be called up once again and thus it might be the end of his Test career.
He has, however, been a star in First Class cricket where he has been in scintillating form for South Australia of late. From 108 matches he has scored 6834 runs at an average of 37.65 with 15 hundreds sand 35 fifties.
#4 Nathan Bracken
Bracken was a wily customer with the leather. Though he was one of the most trusted soldiers for Australia in the One-Day format but he failed to replicate the same form in Tests.
The left-arm seamer just featured in five Test matches for the baggy greens where he snared 12 wickets. He had best bowling figures of 4/48 and an average of 42.08.
His First Class career, on the contrary, was an inspiring one where he picked up 215 wickets for New South Wales from just 67 matches.
His best bowling figures include a 7/4 which is quite astonishing in any form of cricket. Also in domestic cricket, he averaged just 26.06 with the ball.
#3 Andy Bichel
One of the best swing bowlers that Australia have seen in recent years Andy Bichel just played 17 Tests.
He made his Test debut against West Indies in 1997 and thereafter was in and out of the side. By the time he played his last Test match against India in 2003 he had just 58 wickets with a best of 5/60. He had a bowling average of 32.24 and a strike rate of 57.5.
However, in the First Class arena, Bichel was a sensation. He pocketed a whopping 769 scalps in 189 games. His best was a 9/93 in an innings and he averaged 25.98 with the leather. He also had 36 five wicket hauls and seven 10-fors.
#2 Michael Bevan
One of the greatest finishers in the modern game Bevan played just 18 Test matches for Australia.
He made his Test debut against Pakistan in September 1994 and went on to get just 784 runs from 30 innings. He scored 6 fifties during the time and had the highest score of 91. The flamboyant left-hander averaged just 29.07 with the willow and before long he found himself out of the star-studded Test team.
In ODIs Bevan was a completely different player and scored 6912 runs from 232 matches. His average was a phenomenal 53.58 with six hundreds and 45 fifties.
The batter who represented New South Wales and Tasmania in domestic cricket was a legend in the First Class format. He scored a whopping 19,147 runs with an average of 57.32. He had 68 hundreds and 89 fifties to his credit. Alongside his runs he also picked up 119 wickets with his chinaman.
#1 Darren Lehmann
It is quite extraordinary that the present Australian coach Darren Lehmann played just 27 Test matches in his career.
Lehmann was a mixture of brute force and finesse. He could score a quickfire 50 and then follow it up with a 100-ball 30 if the requirement was such.
He made his Test debut against India in 1998 but had a start, stop career in the baggy green cap. He cannot be blamed for this however, as the Australian team those days had the best in the business and there was fierce competition to retain a place in the Test squad.
He played his last Test in 2004 against Pakistan and was dropped thereafter as his form deserted him. He only managed to score 1798 runs in the format from 27 matches at an average of 44.95.
His First Class record however was an earth shattering one. Turning up for South Australia Lehmann amassed a whopping 25, 795 runs from 284 matches at an average of 57.83 with 82 hundreds and 111 fifties.
He also picked 130 wickets to go alongside his batting record.
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