Michael Di Venuto
Encyclopedia
Michael James Di Venuto (born 12 December 1973) is a former Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...

n cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....

 of Italian descent who played first-class cricket
First-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...

 for Tasmanian Tigers
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...

 and One Day Internationals for Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...

. Although he has retired from representative cricket in Australia, he currently continues to play for Durham CCC. He has also previously played cricket in England for Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

 and Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...

. A left hand opening batsman, his form for Tasmania throughout the mid-1990s earned his a call up for the Australian national cricket team in the One Day International arena, although after nine games he was dropped. Like some of his contemporary Tasmanian team-mates such as Jamie Cox, Dene Hills
Dene Hills
Dene Fleetwood Hills was an Australian First Class cricketer who played for the Tasmanian Tigers. He was a left-handed top order batsman, who spent much of his career opening the batting alongside Jamie Cox. He currently works as a batting coach for the England and Wales Cricket Board...

, and Shaun Young
Shaun Young
Shaun Young is an Australian cricketer.He played in one Test at The Oval in London in 1997. He was called into the test team as a replacement as he happened to be in England at the time. He played in 138 first-class cricket matches for Tasmania and Gloucestershire taking 274 wickets with his best...

, Di Venuto can be considered unlucky to have not had a more successful international career, as he was playing at a time when the Australian national cricket team was highly dominant, and difficult to earn selection for.

Early career

Born in Hobart, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 of Italian Australian extraction, Michael Di Venuto attended St Virgil's College
St Virgil's College
St Virgil's College Roman Catholic, primary and secondary, day school for boys, located over two campuses in Austins Ferry and Hobart, Tasmania, Australia....

 and began his cricketing career representing St Virgil's Cricket Club. Michael's father Enrico, and brother Peter were also talented cricketers, but were both surpassed by his ability. Showing his talent from an early age, he soon joined North Hobart Cricket Club
North Hobart Cricket Club
North Hobart Cricket Club also known as the "Demons" represent North Hobart in Tasmania's Grade Cricket Competition.North Hobart Cricket Club was founded in 1905, and won the "A Grade" competition in their first season, quickly establishing themselves as a powerful club in the TCA competition...

, who participate in the Tasmanian Cricket Association's TCA Grade Cricket Competition. It was in that competition that Di Venuto first made a name for himself. His form in the TCA competition soon drew the attention of state selectors, and Di Venuto was selected to make his first-class debut in the 1991-92 whilst still a teenager.

In the 1992-93 season, he returned to club cricket to find some more experience. His return worked well, and he won the Roger Wolley Medal for man-of-the-match in that's season's TCA Grand Final, guiding them to the championship in the process. In that season he also scored a brilliant innings score of 187 against University, still the second highest score in Tasmanian grade competitions. Following a move to Kingborough Cricket Club
Kingborough Cricket Club
Kingborough District Cricket Club also known as the "Knights" represent Kingborough in Tasmania's Grade Cricket Competition.The Knights have experienced great success over the last two Tasmanian seasons, winning back-to-back First Grade Premierships...

, he again won the award in 1996-97, helping them to the trophy as well. In all, Di Venuto played in 8 TCA grand finals for both clubs.

In 2005-06, Di Venuto decided to return to the North Hobart Cricket Club where his grade cricket career had begun. Although his first-class career occupies much of his time, Di Venuto has returned to North Hobart occasionally, such as in March 2009, when a superbly made 111, helped the Demons to victory over Clarence District Cricket Club
Clarence District Cricket Club
Clarence District Cricket Club is a Grade level cricket club representing the city of Clarence in Tasmania's Grade Cricket Competition....

 to reach the TCA Grand Final, although the final was lost to arch-rivals University of Tasmania Cricket Club
University of Tasmania Cricket Club
Tasmania University Cricket Club also known as the "Lions" represent the University of Tasmania in Tasmania's Grade Cricket Competition. Although many of the players are students, or former students it is not compulsory to be so, in order to play for the cricket club.The Tasmania University...

.

First class career

Di Venuto was called up to make his first-class debut against Queensland
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...

 at the age of 19. In a match played at the Gabba from 13–16 March 1992, Di Venuto came into the Tasmanian side for the first time. Although not performing exceptionally, his 33 not out showed he had the temperament to move onto the next level, and helped Tasmania to a total of 400/6 declared. The match ended in a draw, but Di Venuto was now in the minds of the Tasmanian selectors. The following season Di Venuto did not feature for his state at first-class level, but returned to grade cricket
Grade cricket
Grade cricket is the name of the senior inter-club or district cricket competitions in each of the Australian states. The term may refer to:*Brisbane Grade Cricket *South Australian Grade Cricket League*Sydney Grade Cricket...

 to refine his technique. The break worked. Di Venuto returned for the 1993/94 season, and scored 678 runs at 37.66, with a high score of 125 a highlight. Di Venuto's return also helped Tasmania qualify for the Sheffield Shield final for the first time ever. They played against the New South Wales Blues
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...

 at the 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...

, but the occasion of reaching the final proved too much, with New South Wales won by an innings and 61 runs.

The following season he returned figures of 656 runs at 32.80 batting at number four, cementing his spot in the Tasmanian middle order. Di Venuto truly came to the fore in the 1995/96 season. His 791 runs at 43.94 saw him end the season as Tasmania's third most effective batsman, behind only experienced opener Dene Hills
Dene Hills
Dene Fleetwood Hills was an Australian First Class cricketer who played for the Tasmanian Tigers. He was a left-handed top order batsman, who spent much of his career opening the batting alongside Jamie Cox. He currently works as a batting coach for the England and Wales Cricket Board...

, and international legend David Boon
David Boon
David Clarence Boon MBE , nicknamed Boony, is a former Australian cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1995...

. With his regular place in the order assured by the 1996/97 season, Di Venuto regularly moved into the number three spot to cover Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...

's absence through international duties. Although his form dipped slightly at times during the season under this extra pressure, he still returned 799 runs at 39.95. This was Tasmania's third highest tally for the year, but was well overshadowed by Jamie Cox, who scored a remarkable 1349 runs at 67.45. Along with Ponting (850 at 70.83), they kept the Tiger's in the hunt for another final, although the season fell away with Tasmania finishing fourth. Di Venuto's form in the 1996/97 Mercantile Mutual Cup was just as impressive - in five innings he scored 274 runs at 68.50, including a high-score of 129 not out. This was the second highest season tally behind only Queensland Bulls
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...

 batsman Jimmy Maher
Jimmy Maher
James Patrick Maher is a former Australian cricketer. He is "an attractive left-handed batsman with a clumping cover-drive"....

, and earned him a call up to the Australian One Day International side.

His form for Tasmania in the late 1990s soon drew the attention of English county sides, and he signed for Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...

 for the 1999 season
1999 English cricket season
The 1999 English cricket season saw the Sunday League changed to a new format National League with games played midweek under floodlight.-Honours:*County Championship - Surrey*NatWest Trophy - Gloucestershire*National League - Lancashire...

. He scored 1,133 runs for Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 2005
In the 2005 English cricket season Derbyshire County Cricket Club played in Division Two of both the County Championship and totesport League. They started the season favourites to finish plum bottom of the County Championship, and so they did - failing to win any of their first 15 games, before...

 in 2005
2005 English cricket season
Before the beginning of the 2005 English cricket season began, a resurgent English cricket team had won four Test series in a row, going unbeaten through the 2004 calendar year. The start of the international season saw England defeat Bangladesh 2–0 in their two-match series, winning both Tests by...

 but it was not enough to prevent relegation. Di Venuto has made the switch to Durham in readiness for the 2007 season, having served Derbyshire for eight years. Upon his first County Championship appearance for Durham in April 2007, Di Venuto carried his bat as the number one batsman throughout Durham's first innings. Di Venuto repeated this feat just three weeks later, scoring a double-century against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...

. In August 2009 Di Venuto hit his highest score of 254 not out against former side Sussex at Chester-le-Street.

Di Venuto's successes with the Tasmanian Tigers
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...

 have been far greater. His 10,117 at 40.96 see him behind only Jamie Cox (11,812) as Tasmania's all-time leading run scorer. With over 19,000 runs in First Class Cricket, he can rank next to Jamie Cox and Jamie Siddons
Jamie Siddons
James Darren Siddons , commonly known as "Jamie", is an Australian cricketer, renowned for his involvement in Sheffield Shield first-class cricket over a 16-year career. He initially played for Victoria, and later for South Australia....

 as world class batsmen who never played Test cricket
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...

. The mainstay of the top of the Tiger's batting order for over a decade, he is Tasmania's leading one-day run-scorer, and has the most "50's" in Pura Cup
Pura Cup
The Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...

 history. He is behind only David Boon
David Boon
David Clarence Boon MBE , nicknamed Boony, is a former Australian cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1995...

 and Jamie Cox for the most appearances for the Tigers. After 17 seasons representing his state side, and helping them to their first Sheffield Shield title, Di Venuto retired from the Tasmanian side in 2008.

International career

Michael Di Venuto's form in the 1996/97 Mercantile Mutual Cup inspired the Australian national selectors to include him in the Australian squad for a tour to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in 1997. He made his one-day international
One-day International
A One Day International is a form of limited overs cricket, in which a fixed number of overs, usually 50, but in the past 40, 45 or 60 overs, are played between two teams with international status. The Cricket World Cup is played in this format...

 debut against South Africa in the first match of the one-day series at Buffalo Park
Buffalo Park
Buffalo Park is a cricket ground in East London, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is one of the home grounds for the Warriors cricket team. It can hold up to 20,000.It has hosted one Test match, in 2002 and hosted a number of One Day Internationals....

, East London. South Africa won the toss and chose to field, and Di Venuto opened the batting alongside Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor (cricketer)
Mark Anthony Taylor, AO is a former Australian cricket player and Test opening batsman from 1988–1999, as well as captain from 1994–1999, succeeding Allan Border...

. He took an aggressive approach from the outset, scoring 23 runs off 16 balls, before being caught off the bowling of 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...

. It was the fourth highest score in an Australian total of 223/9 off 50, but it wasn't enough to stop South Africa winning by 6 wickets.
Di Venuto was omitted for the second match, and it didn't help his cause that his replacement, the experienced Mark Waugh
Mark Waugh
Mark Edward Waugh AM is a former Australian cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, and made his One-Day International debut in 1988. Waugh is regarded as one of the most elegant and gifted stroke makers to ever play the game. His nickname is "Junior" as...

 scored 115 not out, carrying his bat through the innings to guide Australia to a victory by 7 wickets and level the series 1-1. Despite Mark Waugh's heroics, Di Venuto was given another chance in the third match, but was disappointingly run out for 13 in a match South Africa won by 13 runs. In the fourth match, he was again run out, this time for 14, but Australia won by 15 runs to again level the series at 2-2.
Faced with a premature end to his international career, Di Venuto needed a big innings in the fifth match of the series, and he provided it. He and opening partner Greg Blewett
Greg Blewett
Gregory Scott Blewett is a former Australian right handed batsman and a right arm medium fast bowler in cricket who represented the Australian national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches from 1995 to 2000....

 put on a stand of 93 for the first wicket before Blewett fell. But Di Venuto carried on, scoring 89 off 135 balls, but finally fell a disappointing 11 runs short of a maiden One Day International century. Australia made 258, and won by 8 runs to take a 2-3 lead in the series, and Di Venuto's top score for the Australians earned him the man-of-the-match award, which later proved to be the highlight of his one day carer. Di Venuto was again omitted from the side for the 6th match, but returned in match seven, where he was only able to produce another disappointing score of 11.

Overall the tour to South Africa had produced mixed results for Di Venuto. his top-score of 89 had shown he had the talent to compete at international level, but he had also given his wicket away on more than one occasion, and offered inconsistent scores. The tour had resulted in 150 runs at 30.00 in 5 innings for Di Venuto, the fifth best return of the Australians. It was enough to see him again called up for the start of the 1997/98 Carlton & United Series against South Africa and New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...

, where he was again asked to open the batting. In game one against South Africa at the 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...

, he could only manage a score of 1. In match three against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...

, Di Venuto returned his second best career score of 77, and staring alongside Mark Waugh (104 runs) in an excellent opening stand of 156 for the first wicket. In match four the Australians again met South Africa, this time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
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...

, but Di Venuto failed again with only 6 runs. This inconsistency was starting to weigh against Di Venuto, and the press began to doubt his temperament. When he only returned 7 runs against New Zealand in match six at the MCG, Di Venuto was dropped from the side, and he would not return to the Australian side. In four innings during the series Di Venuto had only managed 91 runs at 22.75.

In all, Michael Di Venuto represented Australia in nine One Day Internationals, scoring 241 runs at an average of 26.77. He had a high-score of 89 scored against South Africa at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, and his only other score of note was 77 against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...

 at the Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...

. Although a talented batsman, his aggressive, attacking style of play which was shown by his strike-rate of 85.76, led him to give his wicket away cheaply too often, as he sought to go on the offensive early on in his innings.

He is a holder of an Italian passport, this has allowed him to play county cricket without being classed as an overseas player and it also makes him eligible for the Italian national cricket team. His older brother, Peter di Venuto played five games for Italy at the 2000 European Cricket Championship
European Cricket Championship
The European Cricket Championship is a group of various tournaments in which national cricket sides throughout Europe compete. The tournament is designed to encourage and develop the best players in countries where cricket is not a major sport and Europe's only Test cricket playing country,...

 and two games in the 2002 edition of the tournament

External links

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