Alex Cusack
Encyclopedia
Alex Richard Cusack is an Australia
n-born Irish
cricket
er. A club cricketer for Clontarf, Cusack was a carpenter by trade until he was granted a professional contract with the Irish Cricket Union in 2009. He is a middle-order right-handed batsman and bowls right-arm medium-fast
. Cusack made his international debut in 2007. Previously a carpenter by trade, in 2009 Cusack became one of the first two players to be given contracts with Cricket Ireland. A year later, the number of cricketers with contracts with CI had increased to six, with Cusack still amongst their number.
, Australia
, on 29 October 1980, Alex Cusack began playing cricket at the age of eight. A versatile player, he played grade cricket
and regularly shifted his position in the batting order
and bowled a bit. In 2003, at the age of 22, Cusack went to Ireland with the intention of playing a season of club cricket. His brother, who was playing rugby for Old Crescent
in Limerick
, helped him get in contact with cricket clubs and Cusack ended up playing as a professional for Clontarf
. Cusack ended up staying and hoped to break into the Ireland team as he has an Irish passport. He married in December 2008.
on 10 June 2007. He bowled two expensive overs, conceding 29 runs
, however he did score 29 batting at number six
from Ireland's total of 175; Ireland went on to lose the match by six wickets. Trent Johnston
, his captain, attributed Cusack's lack of success in his first match to nervousness. However, Cusack was much more effective on his international debut, in which he was named man-of-the-match.
The uncapped Cusack was named in Ireland's squad to face India and South Africa in June 2007; the squad was weakened by the absence of experienced players through commitments to their counties, injuries, and retirements after the 2007 Cricket World Cup
. Not selected for the match against India, Cusack took Gary Wilson's
place in the side for the match against South Africa on 24 June 2007. In the match, Cusack made his One Day International debut; the seventh bowler used by Trent Johnston, Cusack took three wickets out of Ireland's four in the match. His maiden wicket was that of Morne van Wyk
and he also dismissed Jacques Kallis
and Herschelle Gibbs
. Chasing 174 to win from 31 overs
, Cusack top-scored for Ireland with 36 not out
(36*) as the team fell 42 runs short of victory. Talking of Cusack's performance, Johnston said "We knew he could make the step up ... he came out there in tough conditions, against quality batsmen with short boundaries and he hit the top of off-stump and showed us how well he could bat ...He's going to be in these Irish colours for a long time and he deserves that".
Cusack also made a successful first class debut in August 2007, scoring 130 against Scotland in in Belfast. The match, which ended in a draw, was Ireland's opening match in the 2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup. His partnership
with Andre Botha
in the match for the sixth wicket set a record for Ireland. It beat the team's previous highest sixth wicket partnership broke the record established in 1896 by Daniel Comyn and Drummond Hamilton against I Zingari
. It was only Cusack's sixth match for Ireland. In the final of the tournament, Cusack scored 95* alongside centurion Niall O'Brien
to help guide Ireland to victory, their third consecutive title in the competition. He was named man-of-the-match for his performance. Cusack finished the tournament with 361 runs from 7 matches at an average of 51.57 and was Ireland's fourth highest run-scorer; he also took 7 wickets at an average
of 13.28.
were the only players to have professional, central contracts with the Irish Cricket Union
. The contracts were part of the Irish Cricket Union
's initiative to make the Ireland cricket team more professional.
Cusack played in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20
, in which Ireland progressed to the super eights. In Ireland's match against Sri Lanka, Cusack almost helped his team to victory by taking 4/18 to restrict Sri Lanka to 144/9. His bowling figures were the best for Ireland in Twenty20 International
s (T20I). Playing in all five of Ireland's matches, Cusack took 8 wickets at an average of 19.12 in the tournament; he was the equal 12th leading wicket-taker in the tournament, and Ireland's joint leading wicket-taker, in both cases tied with off-spinner
Kyle McCallan
. With 14 wickets at an average of 13.00, Cusack is Ireland's leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Cusack was one of seven Ireland players to be nominated for the 2009 Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year
(there were fourteen nominees in all).
In January 2010 Cricket Ireland, the governing body for cricket in Ireland, awarded Cusack a full-time contract. He was one of six players awarded such contracts with Cricket Ireland, and came just a year after the first professional contracts were awarded to Ireland's cricketers. Before that players were amateurs relying on income from other jobs and playing cricket in their spare time. The contract allowed Cusack and the others to focus on cricket, with the aim of improving ahead of the 2011 World Cup
. He was selected in Ireland's 15-man squad for the 2011 World Cup
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n-born Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
cricket
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. A club cricketer for Clontarf, Cusack was a carpenter by trade until he was granted a professional contract with the Irish Cricket Union in 2009. He is a middle-order right-handed batsman and bowls right-arm medium-fast
Seam bowling
Seam bowling is a phrase used for a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation. Practitioners are known as seam bowlers or seamers....
. Cusack made his international debut in 2007. Previously a carpenter by trade, in 2009 Cusack became one of the first two players to be given contracts with Cricket Ireland. A year later, the number of cricketers with contracts with CI had increased to six, with Cusack still amongst their number.
Youth and early career
Born in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on 29 October 1980, Alex Cusack began playing cricket at the age of eight. A versatile player, he played grade cricket
Queensland Cricket
Queensland Cricket, formerly known as the Queensland Cricket Association, was formed in 1876 and is the governing body of Cricket in Queensland, Australia...
and regularly shifted his position in the batting order
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
and bowled a bit. In 2003, at the age of 22, Cusack went to Ireland with the intention of playing a season of club cricket. His brother, who was playing rugby for Old Crescent
Old Crescent
Old Crescent is a senior rugby club in Limerick.Old Crescent grew out of the Crescent College Munster School's cup team of 1947. Fr Gerry Guinane, who trained rugby in the College, saw great potential in that winning team and persuaded them to stay and play together. In September 1947 it became a...
in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, helped him get in contact with cricket clubs and Cusack ended up playing as a professional for Clontarf
Clontarf
Clontarf may refer to:Placenames:*Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland*Clontarf, New South Wales, Australia*Clontarf, Queensland, Australia*Clontarf, Minnesota, United StatesOther:*Battle of Clontarf, 1014...
. Cusack ended up staying and hoped to break into the Ireland team as he has an Irish passport. He married in December 2008.
International breakthrough
Cusack made his debut for Ireland in a one-day match against MiddlesexMiddlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
on 10 June 2007. He bowled two expensive overs, conceding 29 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
, however he did score 29 batting at number six
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
from Ireland's total of 175; Ireland went on to lose the match by six wickets. Trent Johnston
Trent Johnston
David Trent Johnston usually known as Trent Johnston is an Australian-born Irish cricketer...
, his captain, attributed Cusack's lack of success in his first match to nervousness. However, Cusack was much more effective on his international debut, in which he was named man-of-the-match.
The uncapped Cusack was named in Ireland's squad to face India and South Africa in June 2007; the squad was weakened by the absence of experienced players through commitments to their counties, injuries, and retirements after the 2007 Cricket World Cup
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
. Not selected for the match against India, Cusack took Gary Wilson's
Gary Wilson (cricketer)
Gary Craig Wilson is an Irish cricketer who attended Methodist College Belfast. He is a right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper. He has played for the Ireland cricket team since 2004, when he participated in the Under 19s World Cup. Two years later, he participated in the competition for the...
place in the side for the match against South Africa on 24 June 2007. In the match, Cusack made his One Day International debut; the seventh bowler used by Trent Johnston, Cusack took three wickets out of Ireland's four in the match. His maiden wicket was that of Morne van Wyk
Morne van Wyk
Morne Nico van Wyk is a South African cricketer who has played six One Day Internationals. He made his ODI debut at Lords in 2003 scoring 17 in a very low scoring game. He is also the brother of fellow Eagles player Divan van Wyk. On the 9th of January 2011 in a Twenty20 International match...
and he also dismissed Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...
and Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Herman Gibbs is a South African cricketer, more specifically a batsman.Gibbs was schooled at St Joseph's Marist College and then Diocesan College in Rondebosch...
. Chasing 174 to win from 31 overs
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
, Cusack top-scored for Ireland with 36 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
(36*) as the team fell 42 runs short of victory. Talking of Cusack's performance, Johnston said "We knew he could make the step up ... he came out there in tough conditions, against quality batsmen with short boundaries and he hit the top of off-stump and showed us how well he could bat ...He's going to be in these Irish colours for a long time and he deserves that".
Cusack also made a successful first class debut in August 2007, scoring 130 against Scotland in in Belfast. The match, which ended in a draw, was Ireland's opening match in the 2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup. His partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
with Andre Botha
Andre Botha (cricketer)
Andre Cornelius Botha is a former South African-born Irish cricketer. He played 55 times in all for Ireland, including the 2005 ICC Trophy and the European Championship in 2004 and 2006...
in the match for the sixth wicket set a record for Ireland. It beat the team's previous highest sixth wicket partnership broke the record established in 1896 by Daniel Comyn and Drummond Hamilton against I Zingari
I Zingari
I Zingari are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs.-History:...
. It was only Cusack's sixth match for Ireland. In the final of the tournament, Cusack scored 95* alongside centurion Niall O'Brien
Niall O'Brien (cricketer)
Niall John O'Brien is an Irish cricketer educated at Marian College, Ballsbridge. He is a left-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. O'Brien's brother Kevin plays with him in the Irish team...
to help guide Ireland to victory, their third consecutive title in the competition. He was named man-of-the-match for his performance. Cusack finished the tournament with 361 runs from 7 matches at an average of 51.57 and was Ireland's fourth highest run-scorer; he also took 7 wickets at an 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 13.28.
Professional contract
In 2007, Cusack was a carpenter by trade. In common with much of the Ireland team, he had a full-time job away from cricket which interfered with the game. By June 2009, Cusack Trent JohnstonTrent Johnston
David Trent Johnston usually known as Trent Johnston is an Australian-born Irish cricketer...
were the only players to have professional, central contracts with the Irish Cricket Union
Irish Cricket Union
Cricket Ireland, officially the Irish Cricket Union , is the governing body for cricket in Ireland , and oversees the Ireland cricket team and Ireland women's cricket team...
. The contracts were part of the Irish Cricket Union
Irish Cricket Union
Cricket Ireland, officially the Irish Cricket Union , is the governing body for cricket in Ireland , and oversees the Ireland cricket team and Ireland women's cricket team...
's initiative to make the Ireland cricket team more professional.
Cusack played in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20
2009 ICC World Twenty20
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 was an international Twenty20 cricket tournament which took place in England in June 2009. It was the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament, following the inaugural event in South Africa in September 2007...
, in which Ireland progressed to the super eights. In Ireland's match against Sri Lanka, Cusack almost helped his team to victory by taking 4/18 to restrict Sri Lanka to 144/9. His bowling figures were the best for Ireland in Twenty20 International
Twenty20 International
A Twenty20 International is a form of cricket which is played over 20 overs per side between two national cricket teams. The game is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket...
s (T20I). Playing in all five of Ireland's matches, Cusack took 8 wickets at an average of 19.12 in the tournament; he was the equal 12th leading wicket-taker in the tournament, and Ireland's joint leading wicket-taker, in both cases tied with off-spinner
Off break
Off break is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It is the attacking delivery of an off spin bowler. Off breaks are known as off spinners....
Kyle McCallan
Kyle McCallan
William Kyle McCallan, MBE , usually known as Kyle McCallan, is an Irish cricketer. A right-handed batsman and off spin bowler, he has played more times for the Ireland cricket team than any other player, more than 40 caps ahead of the next player in the table, the retired Peter Gillespie...
. With 14 wickets at an average of 13.00, Cusack is Ireland's leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Cusack was one of seven Ireland players to be nominated for the 2009 Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year
ICC Awards
The ICC Awards is a set of sports awards for cricket. The awards recognise and honour the best international cricket players of the previous 12 months...
(there were fourteen nominees in all).
In January 2010 Cricket Ireland, the governing body for cricket in Ireland, awarded Cusack a full-time contract. He was one of six players awarded such contracts with Cricket Ireland, and came just a year after the first professional contracts were awarded to Ireland's cricketers. Before that players were amateurs relying on income from other jobs and playing cricket in their spare time. The contract allowed Cusack and the others to focus on cricket, with the aim of improving ahead of the 2011 World Cup
2011 Cricket World Cup
The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It was Bangladesh's first time co-hosting a World Cup...
. He was selected in Ireland's 15-man squad for the 2011 World Cup
2011 Cricket World Cup
The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It was Bangladesh's first time co-hosting a World Cup...
.