NATHAN BRACKEN

'Nathan Wade Bracken' (born September 12, 1977 in Penrith, New South Wales) is an Australian cricketer. He is married to Haley Bracken (nee Rich). Haley is currently pregnant with the couple's first child. [1] Bracken's trademark is his long shoulder length blonde hair which he wears with a head-band while bowling. Many commentators and cricket fans have compared him to Australian Idol television host Andy G, which he is thus nicknamed.
A left arm fast bowler, Bracken made his debut for his state in the 1998-1999 season after attending the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy the year before. Tall and capable of swinging the ball both ways, Bracken quickly established himself in domestic cricket.
In the 2000-2001 season Bracken made his debut for Australia in a one day international match against West Indies and established himself as a regular member of that squad, but a shoulder injury in 2001 saw him lose his place until the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
Due to a wealth of fast bowling talent in Australia, Bracken has only just become a regular fixture in the Australian team; especially since the omission of Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz. He has played five Test matches though, his debut coming in December 2003 versus India in Brisbane. Despite a strong showing during the 2005/2006 ODI season, he was not selected to tour South Africa for the Test series starting in March 2006.
He has established himself as one the top fast bowlers in Australian state cricket, and in December 2004 took the remarkable figures of 7 for 4 in a Pura Cup game against South Australia in Sydney, figures that have rarely been bettered in the history of first-class cricket around the world.
Bracken is currently one of twenty-five elite cricketers contracted to Cricket Australia, being reinstated to the list in 2005 after being dropped the previous year.

Contents

Teams

International

Australian state

English county

Career highlights

Tests

One-day internationals

External links

Teams

International

★ Australia (current)

Australian state

★ New South Wales Blues (current)

English county

★ Worcestershire (2006 season)

Career highlights

Tests

Test Debut: vs India, Brisbane, 2003-2004

Latest Test: vs South Africa, Sydney, 2005-2006

★ Bracken's best Test batting score of 37, was made against the West Indies, Brisbane, 2005-2006

★ His best Test bowling figures of 4 for 48 came against the West Indies, Brisbane, 2005-2006

One-day internationals

ODI Debut: vs West Indies, Melbourne, 2000-2001

Latest ODI: vs England, Sydney, 2006 - 2007

★ Bracken's best ODI batting score of 21 not out.

★ His best ODI bowling figures of 5 for 67 came against South Africa, Johannesburg, 2005-2006

★ He had figures of 3-22, in the ICC Champions Trophy final against the West Indies.

External links

★ Cricinfo profile on Nathan Bracken

★ HowSTAT! statistical profile on Nathan Bracken