New Delhi. The games of fate are strange. There are many players who got many opportunities to establish themselves but they could not do so. On the other hand, there are some players who got very few opportunities in international cricket. On these occasions, they also shone with their performance but could not play much. Australia’s Anthony Stuart can be placed in the category of such unlucky cricketers.
The international career of New South Wales’ tall fast bowler Stuart lasted only 12 days. During this time he gave his best performance. In his last ODI, he took 5 wickets including a hat-trick and also took two catches. He became the player of the match but could not play for the country again. His international career came to a ‘full stop’ with three ODIs. There is no doubt that whatever opportunities Stuart got, he left no stone unturned in giving the best performance.
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Took two wickets in debut ODI match
Born on 2 January 1970, Anthony Mark Stuart was a right-arm fast bowler. On the basis of his excellent performance in List A matches of domestic cricket, he made it to the Australian team and started his career by playing an ODI against West Indies on 5 January 1997, three days after his 27th birthday. In his debut ODI, he took two wickets for 48 runs in 10 overs. The importance of these wickets increases because on a batting wicket, the West Indies team achieved Australia’s target of 285 runs by losing just three wickets. Out of these three wickets, two – Brian Lara and Junior Murray – were dismissed by Stuart.
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He became the second Australian bowler to take a hat-trick in ODI
Stuart played his second match against Pakistan on 7 January and took one wicket for 35 runs in 10 overs. He also contributed to two run outs. After this, the match played on 16 January was a ‘milestone’ in terms of his career. In this match against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), he took 5 wickets including a hat-trick and also took 3 catches and became the best player of the match. At that time, he became the second Australian bowler after Bruce Reid to take a hat-trick in ODIs.
Three in three! Anthony Stuart had the MCG buzzing with a hat-trick in 1997! #MelbourneMoments pic.twitter.com/Y4VtBax8Vx
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) September 2, 2020
