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Merv Hughes




  Nationality Australian
  Country Australia
  Country Abbrev AUS
  Name Merv Hughes
  Picture Cricket_no_picpng
  Batting Style Right-hand bat (RHB)
  Bowling Style Right-arm fast (RF)
  Tests 53
  Test Runs 1,032
  Test Bat Avg 1664
  Test 100s/50s 0/2
  Test Top Score 72
  Test Overs 20475
  Test Wickets 212
  Test Bowl Avg 2838
  Test 5s 7
  Test 10s 1
  Test Best Bowling 13/217
  Test Catches/stumpings 23/0
  ODIs 33
  ODI Runs 100
  ODI Bat Avg 1111
  ODI 100s/50s 0/0
  ODI Top Score 20
  ODI Overs 2731
  ODI Wickets 38
  ODI Bowl Avg 2934
  ODI 5s 0
  ODI Best Bowling 4/44
  ODI Catches/stumpings 6/0
  Date 17 September
  Year 2005


Mervyn Gregory Hughes (born 23 November 1961 , Euroa, Victoria ) was a mercurial fast bowler who represented Australia between 1985 and 1994 in 53 Test Matches taking 212 wickets and scoring over 1000 runs. He played 33 One Day International s taking 38 wickets. He took a Hat Trick in Test against the West Indies in 1988-89 and went on to take 8-87. In 1993 he took 31 wickets in The Ashes Series against England.

Major teams: Victoria , Essex , Australian Capital Territory, Australia A (in the World Series), Australia .

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast

Hughes physical presence (a burly 6'4"), Fu-manchu Moustache a penchant for exuberant displays of affection for his fellow players (they called him "Fruitfly") and a run up that at times stretched to 45 paces made him a firm favourite amongst supporters. In England on his second Ashes tour in 1993, the crowd chanted "Sumo" whenever he ran into bowl.

"Big Merv" was a notorious consumer of alcohol and food. Later in his career, this was felt to have increased damage to his knees and ultimately to have led to a shortening of his Australian and Victorian playing careers. Having always been rather overweight, he participated in both seasons of Channel Nine 's Celebrity Overhaul , to lose weight and improve his fitness. He was the top performer (weight-wise) in the first season.

Hughes started his career playing district Cricket with Footscray in 1978-79. He was selected for Victoria in 1981-82 and made his debut against South Australia. Hughes first appeared for Australia against India in 1985-1986. He took 1-123 and was not re-selected until the Ashes Series against England the following year. Throughout his career, the Australian selectors viewed Hughes as a Test rather than one day player and he was generally only selected for the shorter game when another player was injured or otherwise unavailable. Hughes played his last test in Cape Town against South Africa in 1994.

Later on in his career Hughes undertook an ambitious stint with the Canberra Comets which turned out to be hugely unsuccessful. He claimed only a single wicket in a season.

Hughes replaced Allan Border in June 2005 as a selector for the Australian cricket team.

Merv is a prominent supporter of the Western Bulldogs Australian Football League team.


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Sledging (cricket)


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