Michael Beer
Encyclopedia
Michael Anthony Beer is an Australian cricket
er who plays for the Western Warriors
. He is a slow left-arm orthodox spin
bowler. He made his Test
debut in the final match of the 2010–11 Ashes series.
suburb of Malvern
and played his junior cricket for Malvern Cricket Club in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association
. His family had strong ties with the club and his father was part of the club's "Team of the Century". He attended De La Salle College, which resides opposite the Malvern Cricket Ground and graduated in 2002. He made his way into the club's First XI before leaving to play with Victorian Premier Cricket
club St Kilda
when he was 17.
ahead of other spin bowling options such as Bryce McGain
, Cameron White
and Jon Holland
. He did play some Second XI matches for Victoria in the Cricket Australia Cup
and toured England with the Victorian Emerging Players in 2007. He won the Crusaders/Robert Rose Scholarship for 2006/07, having taken 43 wickets at an bowling average
of 19.88. Following the 2009–10 domestic season, Beer moved from Victoria to Western Australia, where he was awarded a contract for the 2010–11 season with the Western Warriors. He made his debut in the Warriors first 2010–11 Ryobi Cup
match against Victoria in October 2010.
games for Western Australia, he was named in the Australian Test Squad for the third Ashes
Test
to be played at the WACA Ground
. His selection in the squad came a day after retired Australian champion spinner Shane Warne
suggested that Beer be included in the side after performing well in the 2010–11 season, taking 16 wickets, including five against the touring English side in November 2010. Tasmanian spinner Xavier Doherty
was omitted from the squad after taking only one wicket in Australia's loss to England in the Second Test. The move was highly criticised by some, including former Australian Test bowlers Stuart MacGill
and Nathan Bracken
. Beer was named as the twelfth man for the match as Australia decided to play four specialist fast bowlers. Along with batsman Usman Khawaja
, he debuted in the fifth Test in Sydney, on 3 January 2011.
Beer was denied his maiden Test wicket when a catch by Ben Hilfenhaus
at mid-off from England's opener Alastair Cook
was overturned after a front-foot no ball. He claimed his first Test wicket by dismissing Paul Collingwood
for 13, with the catch completed by Hilfenhaus at deep mid-on. Beer was the last batsman to be dismissed in Australia's second innings in the match, enabling England to complete a victory by an innings and 83 runs and a 3-1 series win. He had made two runs in the second innings to add to the two not out he had made in the first innings.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who plays for the Western Warriors
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
. He is a slow left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch...
bowler. He made his Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
debut in the final match of the 2010–11 Ashes series.
Early life
Beer grew up in the MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of Malvern
Malvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
and played his junior cricket for Malvern Cricket Club in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association
Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association
The Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association is a turf cricket competition based in Melbourne, Australia. There are 28 clubs each fielding four teamsplus an under 15 team in the annual R.M. Hatch shield competition which is regarded as the premier competition for the future of Victorian...
. His family had strong ties with the club and his father was part of the club's "Team of the Century". He attended De La Salle College, which resides opposite the Malvern Cricket Ground and graduated in 2002. He made his way into the club's First XI before leaving to play with Victorian Premier Cricket
Victorian Premier Cricket
Victorian Premier Cricket is the elite club cricket competition in the state of Victoria, administered by Cricket Victoria. Each club fields four teams of adult players and usually play on weekends and public holidays. Matches are played on turf wickets under limited-time rules, with most results...
club St Kilda
St Kilda Cricket Club
St Kilda Cricket Club is a cricket club in the elite club competition of Melbourne, Australia, known as Victorian Premier Cricket.Its home ground is the St Kilda Cricket Ground, often called the Junction Oval.-History:...
when he was 17.
Domestic career
Beer had some success with St Kilda, taking over 100 wickets in two seasons and twice being selected in the Premier Cricket teams of the year. He was unable to make the Victorian cricket squadVictorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
ahead of other spin bowling options such as Bryce McGain
Bryce McGain
Bryce Edward McGain is a professional Australian cricketer who currently plays for Victoria. McGain made his first-class debut in 2002 against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground. However, due to other Victorian spinners—Shane Warne and Cameron White—he was unable to hold down a place in...
, Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
and Jon Holland
Jon Holland
Jonathan Mark Holland , a Slow Left Arm Orthodox spinner, Holland went from uncapped state player to making it to the Australian squad within a year. He made his initial appearances for Victoria early in 2008–09 when Bryce McGain was injured and Cameron White was in India with the Test squad...
. He did play some Second XI matches for Victoria in the Cricket Australia Cup
Cricket Australia Cup
The Futures League is the Australian national second XI cricket competition. Run by Cricket Australia, it is part of its development program and includes the various state and territory second XI teams, for the 2009–10 season onwards the tournament was renamed the Futures League because a change of...
and toured England with the Victorian Emerging Players in 2007. He won the Crusaders/Robert Rose Scholarship for 2006/07, having taken 43 wickets at an bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 19.88. Following the 2009–10 domestic season, Beer moved from Victoria to Western Australia, where he was awarded a contract for the 2010–11 season with the Western Warriors. He made his debut in the Warriors first 2010–11 Ryobi Cup
2010–11 National One Day Cup season
The 2010–11 National One Day Cup was the 41st season of official List A domestic cricket in Australia. The season began on 6 October 2010 when Queensland Bulls played the Tasmanian Tigers....
match against Victoria in October 2010.
International career
In December 2010, after playing only five first-class cricketFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
games for Western Australia, he was named in the Australian Test Squad for the third Ashes
2010–11 Ashes series
The 2010–11 Ashes series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of Australia during the 2010–11 cricket season. Five Tests were played from 25 November 2010 to 7 January 2011...
Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
to be played at the WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
. His selection in the squad came a day after retired Australian champion spinner Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
suggested that Beer be included in the side after performing well in the 2010–11 season, taking 16 wickets, including five against the touring English side in November 2010. Tasmanian spinner Xavier Doherty
Xavier Doherty
Xavier John Doherty is an Australian cricketer who plays Australian domestic cricket with the Tasmanian Tigers and for the Australia. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left arm orthodox bowler...
was omitted from the squad after taking only one wicket in Australia's loss to England in the Second Test. The move was highly criticised by some, including former Australian Test bowlers Stuart MacGill
Stuart MacGill
Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill is a former right-arm leg spin bowler of the Australian cricket team, with a domestic career at Western Australia, New South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Devon and Somerset...
and Nathan Bracken
Nathan Bracken
Nathan Wade Bracken is a former Australian cricketer. A tall left-arm fast-medium bowler, Bracken is capable of swinging the ball both ways. He has represented Australia in all forms of the game...
. Beer was named as the twelfth man for the match as Australia decided to play four specialist fast bowlers. Along with batsman Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja is an Australian cricketer. He was awarded player of the Australian Under 19 Championship in 2005 and also played for Australia in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka as an opening batsman. His club side is Randwick-Petersham....
, he debuted in the fifth Test in Sydney, on 3 January 2011.
Beer was denied his maiden Test wicket when a catch by Ben Hilfenhaus
Ben Hilfenhaus
Benjamin William Hilfenhaus is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket. Hilfenhaus plays club cricket for Tasmania University Cricket Club. Prior to turning fully professional, he worked as a bricklayer as well as playing cricket...
at mid-off from England's opener Alastair Cook
Alastair Cook
Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003...
was overturned after a front-foot no ball. He claimed his first Test wicket by dismissing Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
for 13, with the catch completed by Hilfenhaus at deep mid-on. Beer was the last batsman to be dismissed in Australia's second innings in the match, enabling England to complete a victory by an innings and 83 runs and a 3-1 series win. He had made two runs in the second innings to add to the two not out he had made in the first innings.