Ray Bright

Ray Bright
Personal information
Full name Raymond James Bright
Born (1954-07-13) 13 July 1954
Footscray, Melbourne, Australia
Nickname Candles
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Slow left arm orthodox
Role Bowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 280) 7 July 1977 v England
Last Test 19 October 1986 v India
ODI debut (cap 19) 30 March 1974 v New Zealand
Last ODI 11 April 1986 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1972–1988 Victoria
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODI FC LA
Matches 25 11 184 47
Runs scored 445 66 4,130 458
Batting average 14.35 16.50 21.07 19.08
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 2/12 0/2
Top score 33 19* 108 70
Balls bowled 5,541 462 37,912 2,367
Wickets 53 3 471 40
Bowling average 41.13 116.66 32.08 41.12
5 wickets in innings 4 24 0
10 wickets in match 1 n/a 2 n/a
Best bowling 7/87 1/28 7/87 3/30
Catches/stumpings 13/ 2/ 107/ 11/
Source: Cricinfo, 20 November 2008

Raymond James Bright (born 13 July 1954) is a former Australian Test and One Day International cricketer.

Biography

A left-arm orthodox spin bowler and useful lower order right-handed batsman, Bright made his first-class debut for Victoria at eighteen years of age, against New South Wales in Sydney in the 1972–1973 domestic season.

International career

Bright made his One Day International debut for Australia on the tour of New Zealand in the 1976–77 season. He was 12th man in the Centenary Test against England at Melbourne a few weeks later, and fielded throughout England's two innings as substitute for Rick McCosker who had suffered a broken jaw when batting in Australia's first innings.

He toured England in 1977, and made his Test debut in the Second Test at Old Trafford. Over the next decade he was a fixture in the Australian squad without ever holding down a regular place in the Test or One Day teams, playing in only twenty-five Tests and eleven One Day Internationals during his twelve-year international career. He played in the Australian team in World Series Cricket in 1977–78 and 1978–79, and had some good performances against the strong West Indies batting lineup.

Arguably his finest moment in international cricket came in the famous tied Test in Madras against India in 1986, when he took 5 for 94 in India's second innings. He also captained Australia in one match (a loss), his final One Day International appearance for his country, against Pakistan in April 1986.

Gideon Haigh once wrote that "for a time, Ray Bright was colloquially and rather meanly known for having made almost as many tours as he had played Tests."[1] Bright was selected on a large number of Australian touring squads, including ones to New Zealand (1973-74, 1976-77, 1981-82 and 1985-86), England (1977, 1980 and 1981), the West Indies (1978-79), Pakistan (1979-80 and 1982-83), Sri Lanka (Australian cricket team in England in 1981|1980-81), Sharjah (1986) and India (1986-87).

Bright's last test was in 1986, though he was 12th man for Australia during the 3rd test of the 1986-87 Ashes.[2]

Despite a relatively modest international career, Bright was a stalwart at Australian domestic level for Victoria. He ended his first-class career with 471 wickets at an average of 32.08 and scored two centuries.

Post Retirement Career

Since retiring from playing professionally after the 1987–1988 season, Bright has served as a selector for the Victorian state team and has taken on a number of coaching roles. His son, Adam Bright, plays baseball for Australia.

Teams

International

Australian state

Career highlights

Tests

Test Debut: vs England, Manchester, 1977
Last Test: vs India, Mumbai, 1986–1987

One-day internationals

ODI Debut: vs New Zealand, Dunedin, 1973–1974
Last ODI: vs Pakistan, Sharjah, 1985–1986

See also

References

External links

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