Murray Bennett
Encyclopedia
Murray John Bennett is a former Australian cricket
er who played in 3 Tests
and 8 ODIs from 1984 to 1985.
for St. George in 1973–74 and was selected for the New South Wales
combined schoolboy team. During the 1976–77 season, he broke into the New South Wales Colts
, the state youth team. Playing in two matches for the summer, he took nine wickets at 10.44. In the second of these matches he scored 102 not out and took a total of 6/34 in an innings win over Queensland Colts
. Despite this, he failed to gain selection in the youth team in the following season and he did not reappear until the 1978–79 season. He took six wickets at 12.66 but failed to make any impact with the bat, scoring 19 runs at 4.75. The following season, he played another two games for the Colts, taking five wickets at 28.80 and scoring an unbeaten 116 in one match.
, he took 2/74 from 52 overs including 25 maidens, his victims being for Test players Craig Serjeant
and Tony Mann
. He also scored an unbeaten 30 in a high-scoring draw. In the following match against Tasmania
, he took 4/55 from 40.1 overs in another economical performance that featured 22 maidens, but was unable to prevent a seven-wicket defeat. Bennett went wicketless in the next match against South Australia
, but did score an unbeaten 59, his maiden-first-class fifty. The spinner broke through for his first five-wicket haul in the next match against Western Australia. After taking 3/47 in the first innings, he claimed 5/39 to dismiss the Western Australians for 197. Of his match total of 65.2 overs, 39 were maidens.
This left New South Wales with a target of 230 and Bennett made 21 not out to see them to the victory with four wickets in hand. Bennett continued his strong debut season in the next match against England, taking 4/65 and 5/123. In the first innings, he denied Geoff Cook
his century, having him caught by fellow spinner Holland for 99, and in the second innings he removed Cook again this time for 77, as well as top-scorer Chris Tavare
for 147. He made 29 in the lower-order in the run-chase, but was unable to prevent a 26-run defeat. Despite this, Bennett had taken 23 wickets at 21.08 in his first five matches at senior level.
Bennett had less success in the second half of the season, only taking 15 wickets in the remaining eight matches, with a best of 4/9 against Victoria, totalling 6/106 for the match. His victims included Dav Whatmore
and Dean Jones
, removing both twice. New South Wales made the Shield final and Bennett was retained in spite of his modest late-season form. He contributed little in a narrow victory. His state batted first and contributed only in a total of 271. Bennett bowled economically, but was unable to take a wicket, conceding 50 runs from 29 overs as the Western Australians replied. In the second innings he managed only nine as New South Wales reached 280 to set a target of 293. Bennett was against wicketless, conceding 39 runs from 22 overs, but his colleagues were able to deliver with the ball and New South Wales won by 54 runs.
Bennett ended his debut season with 38 wickets at 28.26 and 356 runs at 32.36. He played in three one-dayers for his state taking three wickets at 30.03 at an economy rate of 3.03.
Bennett was rewarded with selection in a Young Australia team for a month-long tour of Zimbabwe
. The squad played two first-class and two one-day matches against the hosts' national team. In the opening first-class fixture, Bennett scored 24 and totalled 2/49 as the tourists won by an innings. He then scored 21 and 35 in the Australians' 126 and 216 as the hosts squared the series; Holland took a total of 3/64. Bennett was not effective in the one-dayers; he took a total of 1/108 from 20 overs.
Known for his accuracy and his well-disguised arm ball
, he quickly formed an integral part of the bowling attack that made the state the dominant domestic team in the Sheffield Shield in the 1980s. Forming a spin-oriented attack with Bob Holland
(leg spin
) and Greg Matthews
(off spin
), Bennett played in all of New South Wales' ten round-robin Shield matches, as well as two first-class fixtures against the touring England and Sri Lankan cricket team.
Bennett continued to struggle in limited-overs cricket the following Australian season. In the first match of the season against Western Australia, the opposition batsmen attacked him and he conceded 63 runs from his ten overs, scoring more than a third of their total from his bowling. As a result, Bennett was dropped from the one-day team for the rest of the season. The spinner maintained his position in the first-class team and played nine matches for New South Wales.
In his third Shield match, Bennett made a tail-wagging 46 as New south Wales made 245. He then took 5/15 to dismiss the South Australians for 101, and his state went on to a 109-run win. In the return match, Bennett made 48 not out and took 3/45 in a high-scoring draw. He also scored 54 and took 3/62 in a match against Tasmania. Bennett otherwise did not take more than two wickets in an innings and ended with 20 wickets at 36.55 and 202 runs at 25.25. New South Wales failed to defend their title and did not qualify for the final.
for Ramsbottom as their overseas professional. He started relatively slowly, taking 12 wickets in his first five innings with the ball.
Towards late June, he entered a strong run of form, taking 35 wickets in seven innings, claiming at least four wickets in each of innings. Bennett scored five helf-centuries with a best of 85 not out against Haslingden and best bowling figures of 7/27 against Lowerhouse. He took 83 wickets at 10.14 and scored 716 runs at 42.11.
Despite his poor domestic form in one-dayers, Bennett was selected for the Australian team on a One Day tour to India in 1984, making his ODI debut in the fifth and final match of the series in Indore
, taking an economical 0/37 from his ten overs as the hosts made 5/235. He was not required to bat as the Australians completed a six-wicket victory. He then took 1/33 from his ten overs as the tourists defeated Bombay
before returning to Australia.
In the 1984-85 Sheffield Shield, Bennett struggled to make the NSW team when not playing in Sydney
, however, he made the most of his chance in the tour match against the powerful West Indians, the dominant team in world cricket at the time. Before this match, he had taken only two wickets in as many first-class matches for the season. In the first innings Bennett made an unbeaten 16 in his team's 287, before taking 2/53 to help dismiss the tourists for 212, securing a 75-run lead. His victims were Gus Logie
and the leading batsmen in world cricket at the time, Viv Richards
. In the second innings, he made 6 as the hosts collapsed for 129 to leave the Caribbean visitors with a target of only 205. He took 6/32 in the second innings, his best figures in first-class cricket, including the wickets of opener Desmond Haynes
, Richards and captain Clive Lloyd
to give NSW victory over the tourists by 72 runs. In the next match, Bennett continued his barren run and went wicketless against South Australia, and was dropped from the state team.
The fourth Test in Melbourne
saw Bennett make his Test
debut over the Christmas holiday period. While not taking a wicket and totalling 0/90 at almost four runs per over without managing a maiden, Bennett made 22 not out in the first innings and survived the final overs of the match with the bat, remaining on 3 at the end. Australia had two wickets in hand to end the West Indies 11-Test winning streak, then a Test record.
For the fifth Test at the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground
, Bennett retained despite his wicketless debut and pair selected for the first time in combination with his NSW spin bowling partner, Bob Holland
. The match unfolded in a manner similar to the New South Wales tour match. While Holland was the Player of the Match with 10/94 wickets, Bennett scored 23 and contributed 2/45 and 3/79. In the first innings, he removed wicket-keeper Jeff Dujon
to claim his maiden Test wicket before removing Michael Holding
for a duck to help finish off the tail.
In the second innings, Bennett removed Richie Richardson
and then bowled Richards for 58 with an arm ball
. Australia won the Test by an innings to end the West Indies' record of 27 Tests without loss.
Following his success in the Tests, Bennett was retained for ODIs. He had taken a total of 3/53 from 19 overs in his two domestic one-dayers for the season up to that point. Bennett played in the first five matches in the 1984-85 World Series Cup
. In the first match at Melbourne, he bowled an economical spell of 1/23 from his ten overs, his maiden ODI wicket being Gordon Greenidge
. Bennett's effort was not enough to stop the West Indies from reaching their target of 241 with seven wickets and more than five overs in hand as they scored quickly from his colleagues. He then returned to his home crowd at the SCG and took 1/44 from his ten overs, removing Brendon Kuruppu
before the Australian batsmen completed a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka. In the next match in Brisbane, the West Indian batsmen began to get the better of Bennett after his success in matches earlier in the season. Bennett batted for the first time in ODIs and scored three as Australia were dismissed for 191. He was then attacked by the tourists, who took 21 runs from his three overs en route to a five-wicket win with more than 12 overs in hand. The series proceeded back to Sydney for the next match, but Bennett had no success on his home turf as the West Indies took 40 runs from his six overs and completed another five-wicket win. After taking 0/48 from nine overs in a defeat to Sri Lanka, Bennett was dropped for the remaining 11 ODIs of the Australian summer. He ended the ODI campaign with two wickets at 88.00 and an economy rate of 4.63.
Bennett returned to state duty and helped New South Wales complete their second Shield title in three seasons. He scored 22 and took 3/39 in the first innings of an innings win over Queensland. Bennett then played a match-winning role against Victoria. After making 19 of his state's 310, he took 3/47 to secure a 67-run first innings lead. Defending a target of 269 in the second innings, Bennett took 6/57 to secure a close-run 25-run win.
In the final, he took 2/54, removing Australian captain Allan Border
and future international batsman Glenn Trimble
, and then made 10 in the first innings as Queensland took a 56-run lead. In the second innings, he removed Trimble and Test batsmen Greg Ritchie
in his 4/32 as New South Wales dismissed their opponents for 163 to set up a target of 220. In a tense finish, Bennett could only manage a solitary run before being dismissed, but New South Wales' last pair reached the target to seal the Shield.
Bennett was recalled to the limited-overs team and played his final 2 ODIs in the Four-Nations Cup in Sharjah
. In their first match, Australia bowled first against England and restricted their opponents to 8/177; Bennett took 2/27 from his ten overs. Australia found their low run-chase to be difficult and Bennett came out in the closing stages, only to run out
for a duck. Border's men scraped home by two wickets on the last ball to reach the final, where they met India. Bennett made a duck as Australia were bowled out for 139 and he took 0/35 from his ten overs as the Indians won by three wickets with more than ten overs to spare.
, but took only three wickets in four first-class matches of the Tests and was overlooked for the opening Ashes match. During June, Bennett was released from the squad to play for Church in the Lancashire League, and he took 11 wickets in two single-innings matches before rejoining the Test team. He only took 12 wickets in his next six county matches, but after taking 1/99 and 4/39 in the last of these games, which helped Australia to a seven-wicket over Kent, he was called up for the final Test of his career at The Oval
. Australia were trailing 1–2 heading into the Sixth Test, and a win would have been enough for them to retain the Ashes
. Bennett had little effect, taking 1/111 and scoring 12 and 11 as England won by an innings to win the series 3–1. His only wicket was that of Mike Gatting
and he ended the tour with only 16 wickets at 47.87 and 111 runs at 15.85 in 11 matches.
Initially, Bennett accepted an offer to join the rebel tour to South Africa
in 1985-86, who were banned from international sport because of their policies of apartheid. This would have earned him a suspension from mainstream cricket, but he withdrew at an early stage without financial inducement—during that time, the authorities offered money to players to not join the rebel tours.
Bennett was overlooked for national selection during the 1985–86 season and played in all of New South Wales's 11 Shield matches for the season. In the fourth match of the season, he took 4/56 in the second innings against the touring New Zealand, removing John Wright
, John Reid
, Bruce Edgar
and Jeremy Coney
. He then played a prominent role in consecutive Shield victories. Bennett made an unbeaten 55 in a rearguard fightback that took New South Wales to 286, before taking 4/47, helping his state to a 99-run first innings lead over Western Australia. The match was eventually won by 151 runs. He then took 4/38 and 3/32 in an innings win over South Australia. In these two matches, Bennett tied down the opposition; 44% of his overs were maidens and he conceded 1.39 runs per over. Bennett later took 4/71 against Victoria and was prominent in an innings win over Tasmania. He scored an unbeaten 57 and took 3/53 and 2/23. Bennett ended the season with 32 wickets at 27.40 and 300 runs at 33.33.
Bennett continued playing for NSW until the 1987-88 season. His last season was not a success. Playing in only five of the Sheffield Shield matches because of his lack of productivity, Bennett took only four wickets at 43.50 and scored 33 runs at 5.50, and was dropped for the last time in January. He was not selected in any one-day matches.
He finished his first-class career with 1437 runs at 23.95 including four fifties and 157 wickets at 30.92. He served as NSW Assistant Coach from 1991-92 to 1993-94 and as NSW Selector from 1990-91 to 1996-97.
Still heavily involved with the St George District Cricket Club, Bennett served as President for a time and the club's talent identification and development program is named the Murray Bennett Pathway. He was known to be selling insurance in 2007.
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 played in 3 Tests
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...
and 8 ODIs from 1984 to 1985.
Early career
Bennett made a promising start to his career as a left arm orthodox spin bowler by making a successful foray into Sydney Grade CricketSydney Grade Cricket
Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia. The competition began in 1893 when a number of clubs, which had been playing for many years on an ad hoc basis, voted to create a formal competition structure....
for St. George in 1973–74 and was selected for the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
combined schoolboy team. During the 1976–77 season, he broke into the New South Wales Colts
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
, the state youth team. Playing in two matches for the summer, he took nine wickets at 10.44. In the second of these matches he scored 102 not out and took a total of 6/34 in an innings win over Queensland Colts
Queensland Bulls
The Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...
. Despite this, he failed to gain selection in the youth team in the following season and he did not reappear until the 1978–79 season. He took six wickets at 12.66 but failed to make any impact with the bat, scoring 19 runs at 4.75. The following season, he played another two games for the Colts, taking five wickets at 28.80 and scoring an unbeaten 116 in one match.
First-class debut
However, the bespectacled Bennett was unable to break through to first-class level until his Sheffield Shield debut in the 1982-83 season at the age of 26. In his debut match against Western AustraliaWestern Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
, he took 2/74 from 52 overs including 25 maidens, his victims being for Test players Craig Serjeant
Craig Serjeant
Craig Stanton Serjeant is a former Australian cricketer who played in 12 Tests and 3 ODIs from 1977 to 1978....
and Tony Mann
Tony Mann
Tony Mann may refer to:*Tony Mann , Australian cricketer*Tony Mann , physicist from Western Australia...
. He also scored an unbeaten 30 in a high-scoring draw. In the following match against Tasmania
Tasmanian Tigers
The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...
, he took 4/55 from 40.1 overs in another economical performance that featured 22 maidens, but was unable to prevent a seven-wicket defeat. Bennett went wicketless in the next match against South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
, but did score an unbeaten 59, his maiden-first-class fifty. The spinner broke through for his first five-wicket haul in the next match against Western Australia. After taking 3/47 in the first innings, he claimed 5/39 to dismiss the Western Australians for 197. Of his match total of 65.2 overs, 39 were maidens.
This left New South Wales with a target of 230 and Bennett made 21 not out to see them to the victory with four wickets in hand. Bennett continued his strong debut season in the next match against England, taking 4/65 and 5/123. In the first innings, he denied Geoff Cook
Geoff Cook
Geoff Cook is a former English cricketer, who played in seven Tests and six ODIs from 1981 to 1983...
his century, having him caught by fellow spinner Holland for 99, and in the second innings he removed Cook again this time for 77, as well as top-scorer Chris Tavare
Chris Tavaré
Christopher James Tavaré is an English retired cricketer, who played in thirty one Tests and twenty nine One Day Internationals from 1980 to 1989.-Life and career:...
for 147. He made 29 in the lower-order in the run-chase, but was unable to prevent a 26-run defeat. Despite this, Bennett had taken 23 wickets at 21.08 in his first five matches at senior level.
Bennett had less success in the second half of the season, only taking 15 wickets in the remaining eight matches, with a best of 4/9 against Victoria, totalling 6/106 for the match. His victims included Dav Whatmore
Dav Whatmore
Davenell Frederick Whatmore is a former international cricketer who represented Australia. He had a very short international career from March 1979 to January 1980 in which he played just 7 Test matches and 1 One Day International...
and Dean Jones
Dean Jones
Dean Jones is the name of:*Dean Jones , an Australian cricketer*Dean Jones , an American actor*Dean Jones , the singer of Extreme Noise TerrorSee also:*Jones...
, removing both twice. New South Wales made the Shield final and Bennett was retained in spite of his modest late-season form. He contributed little in a narrow victory. His state batted first and contributed only in a total of 271. Bennett bowled economically, but was unable to take a wicket, conceding 50 runs from 29 overs as the Western Australians replied. In the second innings he managed only nine as New South Wales reached 280 to set a target of 293. Bennett was against wicketless, conceding 39 runs from 22 overs, but his colleagues were able to deliver with the ball and New South Wales won by 54 runs.
Bennett ended his debut season with 38 wickets at 28.26 and 356 runs at 32.36. He played in three one-dayers for his state taking three wickets at 30.03 at an economy rate of 3.03.
Bennett was rewarded with selection in a Young Australia team for a month-long tour of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. The squad played two first-class and two one-day matches against the hosts' national team. In the opening first-class fixture, Bennett scored 24 and totalled 2/49 as the tourists won by an innings. He then scored 21 and 35 in the Australians' 126 and 216 as the hosts squared the series; Holland took a total of 3/64. Bennett was not effective in the one-dayers; he took a total of 1/108 from 20 overs.
Known for his accuracy and his well-disguised arm ball
Arm ball
An arm ball is a type of delivery in cricket. It is a variation delivery bowled by an off spin bowler or slow left-arm orthodox bowler. It is the finger spin equivalent of a wrist spinner's slider or zooter....
, he quickly formed an integral part of the bowling attack that made the state the dominant domestic team in the Sheffield Shield in the 1980s. Forming a spin-oriented attack with Bob Holland
Bob Holland
Robert George Holland is a former New South Wales and Australian cricketer. He was, for obvious reasons, nicknamed "Dutchy".-Domestic career:...
(leg spin
Leg spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that...
) and Greg Matthews
Greg Matthews
Gregory Richard John "Mo" Matthews is a former New South Wales and Australian cricketer who is now a television cricket commentator....
(off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
), Bennett played in all of New South Wales' ten round-robin Shield matches, as well as two first-class fixtures against the touring England and Sri Lankan cricket team.
Bennett continued to struggle in limited-overs cricket the following Australian season. In the first match of the season against Western Australia, the opposition batsmen attacked him and he conceded 63 runs from his ten overs, scoring more than a third of their total from his bowling. As a result, Bennett was dropped from the one-day team for the rest of the season. The spinner maintained his position in the first-class team and played nine matches for New South Wales.
In his third Shield match, Bennett made a tail-wagging 46 as New south Wales made 245. He then took 5/15 to dismiss the South Australians for 101, and his state went on to a 109-run win. In the return match, Bennett made 48 not out and took 3/45 in a high-scoring draw. He also scored 54 and took 3/62 in a match against Tasmania. Bennett otherwise did not take more than two wickets in an innings and ended with 20 wickets at 36.55 and 202 runs at 25.25. New South Wales failed to defend their title and did not qualify for the final.
ODI selection
During the winter of 1984, Bennett travelled to England to play in the Lancashire LeagueLancashire League
The Lancashire League is a competitive league of local cricket clubs drawn from the small to middle-sized mill towns, mainly but not exclusively, of East Lancashire...
for Ramsbottom as their overseas professional. He started relatively slowly, taking 12 wickets in his first five innings with the ball.
Towards late June, he entered a strong run of form, taking 35 wickets in seven innings, claiming at least four wickets in each of innings. Bennett scored five helf-centuries with a best of 85 not out against Haslingden and best bowling figures of 7/27 against Lowerhouse. He took 83 wickets at 10.14 and scored 716 runs at 42.11.
Despite his poor domestic form in one-dayers, Bennett was selected for the Australian team on a One Day tour to India in 1984, making his ODI debut in the fifth and final match of the series in Indore
Indore
Indore is one of the major city in India, the largest city and commercial center of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Indore is located 190 km west of the state capital Bhopal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Indore city has a population of 1,960,631...
, taking an economical 0/37 from his ten overs as the hosts made 5/235. He was not required to bat as the Australians completed a six-wicket victory. He then took 1/33 from his ten overs as the tourists defeated Bombay
Mumbai cricket team
The Mumbai cricket team is a cricket team representing the city of Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. It is the most successful team in the Ranji Trophy, India's top domestic cricket competition, with 39 titles, the most recent being in 2009–10. The team's home ground is the Wankhede Stadium in...
before returning to Australia.
In the 1984-85 Sheffield Shield, Bennett struggled to make the NSW team when not playing in Sydney
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, however, he made the most of his chance in the tour match against the powerful West Indians, the dominant team in world cricket at the time. Before this match, he had taken only two wickets in as many first-class matches for the season. In the first innings Bennett made an unbeaten 16 in his team's 287, before taking 2/53 to help dismiss the tourists for 212, securing a 75-run lead. His victims were Gus Logie
Gus Logie
Augustine Lawrence Logie is a former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and is currently an international cricket coach....
and the leading batsmen in world cricket at the time, Viv Richards
Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
. In the second innings, he made 6 as the hosts collapsed for 129 to leave the Caribbean visitors with a target of only 205. He took 6/32 in the second innings, his best figures in first-class cricket, including the wickets of opener Desmond Haynes
Desmond Haynes
Desmond Leo Haynes is a West Indian cricketer and cricket coach. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991. Haynes formed a formidable partnership with Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies cricket team in Test cricket during 1980s. Between them they managed 16 century stands, four in excess of...
, Richards and captain Clive Lloyd
Clive Lloyd
Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s...
to give NSW victory over the tourists by 72 runs. In the next match, Bennett continued his barren run and went wicketless against South Australia, and was dropped from the state team.
Test selection
At the same time, the West Indies had won the first three Tests against Australia in a dominant fashion, and they had already sealed the series. The selectors brought Bennett into the team despite his lean form overall, because of his match-winning performance against the Caribbean tourists when they struggled against spin in the tour match.The fourth Test in Melbourne
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
saw Bennett make 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 over the Christmas holiday period. While not taking a wicket and totalling 0/90 at almost four runs per over without managing a maiden, Bennett made 22 not out in the first innings and survived the final overs of the match with the bat, remaining on 3 at the end. Australia had two wickets in hand to end the West Indies 11-Test winning streak, then a Test record.
For the fifth Test at the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, Bennett retained despite his wicketless debut and pair selected for the first time in combination with his NSW spin bowling partner, Bob Holland
Bob Holland
Robert George Holland is a former New South Wales and Australian cricketer. He was, for obvious reasons, nicknamed "Dutchy".-Domestic career:...
. The match unfolded in a manner similar to the New South Wales tour match. While Holland was the Player of the Match with 10/94 wickets, Bennett scored 23 and contributed 2/45 and 3/79. In the first innings, he removed wicket-keeper Jeff Dujon
Jeff Dujon
Peter Jeffrey Leroy Dujon is a retired West Indian cricketer.He was the wicketkeeper for the West Indian cricket team of the 1980s, an athletic presence behind the stumps as well as a competent lower-order batsman....
to claim his maiden Test wicket before removing Michael Holding
Michael Holding
Michael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...
for a duck to help finish off the tail.
In the second innings, Bennett removed Richie Richardson
Richie Richardson
Richard Benjamin Richardson is a retired West Indies cricketer and a former captain of the West Indian cricket team.Richardson was born in Five Islands Village, Antigua. He began his career with the Leewards Islands in 1982 as an opener and after his second season he was called up by the West...
and then bowled Richards for 58 with an arm ball
Arm ball
An arm ball is a type of delivery in cricket. It is a variation delivery bowled by an off spin bowler or slow left-arm orthodox bowler. It is the finger spin equivalent of a wrist spinner's slider or zooter....
. Australia won the Test by an innings to end the West Indies' record of 27 Tests without loss.
Following his success in the Tests, Bennett was retained for ODIs. He had taken a total of 3/53 from 19 overs in his two domestic one-dayers for the season up to that point. Bennett played in the first five matches in the 1984-85 World Series Cup
World Series Cup
The World Series Cup was the name of the One Day International cricket tournament that took place in Australia every season between Australia and two touring teams from 1979-80 to 1995-96. The tournament was renamed the World Series from 1990-1. This was the very first of the One Day International ...
. In the first match at Melbourne, he bowled an economical spell of 1/23 from his ten overs, his maiden ODI wicket being Gordon Greenidge
Gordon Greenidge
Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge MBE is a former member of the West Indies cricket team.Greenidge was an opening batsman for the West Indies. He began his Test career against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in 1974 and continued playing internationally until 1991. He was half of the West...
. Bennett's effort was not enough to stop the West Indies from reaching their target of 241 with seven wickets and more than five overs in hand as they scored quickly from his colleagues. He then returned to his home crowd at the SCG and took 1/44 from his ten overs, removing Brendon Kuruppu
Brendon Kuruppu
Don Sardha Brendon Priyantha Kuruppu is a former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper and opening batsman. He was often used in ODIs, as he played 54 from 1983 to 1990, but his Test career was largely unremarkable but for one productive innings in Colombo....
before the Australian batsmen completed a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka. In the next match in Brisbane, the West Indian batsmen began to get the better of Bennett after his success in matches earlier in the season. Bennett batted for the first time in ODIs and scored three as Australia were dismissed for 191. He was then attacked by the tourists, who took 21 runs from his three overs en route to a five-wicket win with more than 12 overs in hand. The series proceeded back to Sydney for the next match, but Bennett had no success on his home turf as the West Indies took 40 runs from his six overs and completed another five-wicket win. After taking 0/48 from nine overs in a defeat to Sri Lanka, Bennett was dropped for the remaining 11 ODIs of the Australian summer. He ended the ODI campaign with two wickets at 88.00 and an economy rate of 4.63.
Bennett returned to state duty and helped New South Wales complete their second Shield title in three seasons. He scored 22 and took 3/39 in the first innings of an innings win over Queensland. Bennett then played a match-winning role against Victoria. After making 19 of his state's 310, he took 3/47 to secure a 67-run first innings lead. Defending a target of 269 in the second innings, Bennett took 6/57 to secure a close-run 25-run win.
In the final, he took 2/54, removing Australian captain Allan Border
Allan Border
Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...
and future international batsman Glenn Trimble
Glenn Trimble
Glenn Samuel Trimble is a former Queensland and Australian cricketer born in Brisbane, Queensland...
, and then made 10 in the first innings as Queensland took a 56-run lead. In the second innings, he removed Trimble and Test batsmen Greg Ritchie
Greg Ritchie
Gregory Michael Ritchie is a former Australian cricketer who played in 30 Tests and 44 ODIs from 1982 to 1987....
in his 4/32 as New South Wales dismissed their opponents for 163 to set up a target of 220. In a tense finish, Bennett could only manage a solitary run before being dismissed, but New South Wales' last pair reached the target to seal the Shield.
Bennett was recalled to the limited-overs team and played his final 2 ODIs in the Four-Nations Cup in Sharjah
Sharjah (city)
Sharjah is the third largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula.Sharjah is the seat of government of the emirate of Sharjah...
. In their first match, Australia bowled first against England and restricted their opponents to 8/177; Bennett took 2/27 from his ten overs. Australia found their low run-chase to be difficult and Bennett came out in the closing stages, only to run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
for a duck. Border's men scraped home by two wickets on the last ball to reach the final, where they met India. Bennett made a duck as Australia were bowled out for 139 and he took 0/35 from his ten overs as the Indians won by three wickets with more than ten overs to spare.
Dropped from the national team
He was selected for the 1985 Ashes tour to EnglandAustralian cricket team in England in 1985
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1985 season to play a six-match Test series against England.England won the series 3-1 with two matches drawn...
, but took only three wickets in four first-class matches of the Tests and was overlooked for the opening Ashes match. During June, Bennett was released from the squad to play for Church in the Lancashire League, and he took 11 wickets in two single-innings matches before rejoining the Test team. He only took 12 wickets in his next six county matches, but after taking 1/99 and 4/39 in the last of these games, which helped Australia to a seven-wicket over Kent, he was called up for the final Test of his career at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
. Australia were trailing 1–2 heading into the Sixth Test, and a win would have been enough for them to retain the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
. Bennett had little effect, taking 1/111 and scoring 12 and 11 as England won by an innings to win the series 3–1. His only wicket was that of Mike Gatting
Mike Gatting
Michael "Mike" William Gatting OBE is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988...
and he ended the tour with only 16 wickets at 47.87 and 111 runs at 15.85 in 11 matches.
Initially, Bennett accepted an offer to join the rebel tour to South Africa
South African rebel tours
The South African rebel tours were a series of seven cricket tours staged between 1982 and 1990. They were known as the rebel tours because South Africa was throughout this period banned from international cricket due to the apartheid regime...
in 1985-86, who were banned from international sport because of their policies of apartheid. This would have earned him a suspension from mainstream cricket, but he withdrew at an early stage without financial inducement—during that time, the authorities offered money to players to not join the rebel tours.
Bennett was overlooked for national selection during the 1985–86 season and played in all of New South Wales's 11 Shield matches for the season. In the fourth match of the season, he took 4/56 in the second innings against the touring New Zealand, removing John Wright
John Wright (cricketer)
John Geoffrey Wright is a former international cricketer representing - and captaining - New Zealand, and, following his retirement in 1993, coaching the Indian national cricket team from 2000 to 2005. He made his international debut in 1978 against England...
, John Reid
John Reid
-Politics:* John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan , Former British Home Secretary and former Chairman of Celtic F.C.* John William Reid , U.S. Representative from Missouri...
, Bruce Edgar
Bruce Edgar
Bruce Adrian Edgar was a cricketer from Wellington and one of the best batsmen New Zealand has ever produced. An accountant by profession, in the 1980s, he played 39 Tests and 64 One Day Internationals, altogether he played 175 first-class matches...
and Jeremy Coney
Jeremy Coney
Jeremy Vernon Coney MBE is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played 52 Test matches and 88 ODIs for New Zealand, captaining them in 15 Tests and 25 ODIs. He was one of New Zealand's most successful batsmen, at least by average, and he made 16 fifties, but centuries often eluded him and he had to...
. He then played a prominent role in consecutive Shield victories. Bennett made an unbeaten 55 in a rearguard fightback that took New South Wales to 286, before taking 4/47, helping his state to a 99-run first innings lead over Western Australia. The match was eventually won by 151 runs. He then took 4/38 and 3/32 in an innings win over South Australia. In these two matches, Bennett tied down the opposition; 44% of his overs were maidens and he conceded 1.39 runs per over. Bennett later took 4/71 against Victoria and was prominent in an innings win over Tasmania. He scored an unbeaten 57 and took 3/53 and 2/23. Bennett ended the season with 32 wickets at 27.40 and 300 runs at 33.33.
Final domestic seasons
During the 1986–87 season, Bennett's bowling waned. In six Shield matches he took only nine wickets at 49.33 with a best of 3/79 against Western Australia. Although his lower-order batting still yielded 190 runs at 31.66, he was dropped in the latter stages of the season and missed New South Wales' victory in the Shield final. He was selected for only one limited-overs match; he had no success, conceding 34 runs from five overs without taking a wicket.Bennett continued playing for NSW until the 1987-88 season. His last season was not a success. Playing in only five of the Sheffield Shield matches because of his lack of productivity, Bennett took only four wickets at 43.50 and scored 33 runs at 5.50, and was dropped for the last time in January. He was not selected in any one-day matches.
He finished his first-class career with 1437 runs at 23.95 including four fifties and 157 wickets at 30.92. He served as NSW Assistant Coach from 1991-92 to 1993-94 and as NSW Selector from 1990-91 to 1996-97.
Still heavily involved with the St George District Cricket Club, Bennett served as President for a time and the club's talent identification and development program is named the Murray Bennett Pathway. He was known to be selling insurance in 2007.