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Full name Michael Scott Kasprowicz
Born February 10, 1972, South Brisbane, Queensland
Current age 36 years 97 days
Major teams Australia, Essex, Glamorgan, ICL World XI, Leicestershire, Mumbai Champs, Queensland
Nickname Kasper
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Height 1.94 m

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	38	54	12	445	25	10.59	966	46.06	0	46	3	16
ODIs	43	13	9	74	28*	18.50	89	83.14	0	6	1	13
T20Is	2	1	1	3	3*	-	5	60.00	0	0	0	2
First-class	242	328	78	4401	92	17.60			11			96
List A	226	110	43	983	40	14.67			0			47
Twenty20	13	9	2	91	31	13.00	77	118.18	0	6	1	4

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	38	73	7140	3716	113	7/36	8/92	32.88	3.12	63.1	4	4	0
ODIs	43	42	2225	1674	67	5/45	5/45	24.98	4.51	33.2	1	2	0
T20Is	2	2	42	57	5	4/29	4/29	11.40	8.14	8.4	1	0	0
First-class	242		49376	25505	959	9/36		26.59	3.09	51.4		51	6
List A	226		11037	7977	298	5/45	5/45	26.76	4.33	37.0	8	3	0
Twenty20	13	12	252	320	11	4/29	4/29	29.09	7.61	22.9	1	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Australia v West Indies at Brisbane, Nov 22-26, 1996 scorecard
Last Test	South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg, Mar 31-Apr 4, 2006 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Australia v West Indies at Melbourne, Dec 19, 1995 scorecard
Last ODI	England v Australia at The Oval, Jul 12, 2005 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Feb 17, 2005 scorecard
Last T20I	England v Australia at Southampton, Jun 13, 2005 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1989/90
Last First-class	Queensland v Western Australia at Brisbane, Feb 11-14, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1989/90
Last List A	Queensland v Western Australia at Brisbane, Feb 16, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Glamorgan v Northamptonshire at Cardiff, Jun 16, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Queensland v Tasmania at Brisbane, Jan 10, 2008 scorecard

Profile

As a 17-year-old Kasprowicz studied Western Australia's top order on Queensland debut in 1989-90 while his schoolmates were sitting final exams, and continued to pop up in unexpected places. Like India. A swing bowler who learned to weave outswingers on Gabba greentops, Kasprowicz matured into a subcontinental specialist with reverse-swing, heavy cut and a this-isn't-too-hot-for-another-over attitude. He bravely carried an injury-hit attack struck by Navjot Sidhu and Sachin Tendulkar in 1997-98, popped back in 2001 and returned in 2004 to help end India's 35-year hold. After three years mostly spent refining his efficient yet aggressive action with Queensland and Glamorgan, Kasprowicz celebrated his fifth recall in 2004 with 13 matches, his longest Test run. During the wildly successful year the prongs of McGrath, Gillespie and Kasprowicz were so sharp that Brett Lee ran their refreshments.

To call Kasprowicz a workhorse is unflattering even though the description matches his stamina and size - he was an Australian Schoolboys rugby forward. Regularly clocked faster than his new-ball counterparts (excluding Lee) from a shorter run, Kasprowicz's angle and dart-perfect line caused constant headaches for international left-handers in the style of Paul Reiffel, another under-rated third wheel. He became an important clean-up or go-to man and only four times in 2004 did he leave an innings without a wicket as he collected 47 victims. An intimidating and muscular presence at county and state level - he often broke bones in England and peer pressure from Pura Cup batsmen hurried his Test and one-day returns - Kasprowicz became Queensland's leading wicket-taker in 2003-04, but after missing most of 2006-07 he had a battle to stay ahead of his best man Andy Bichel. Back and groin problems, which started in South Africa and were irritated by the pre-Ashes boot camp, limited him to a season of eight deliveries for Queensland and he lost his Cricket Australia deal.

Popular and cheerful off the field, `Kasper' experienced the lows of being 12th man for Queensland's first Sheffield Shield win in 1994-95, waiting five months and three Tests for his first wicket and completing a regular do-si-do for a national place with Bichel. However, his greatest miss came during the 2005 Ashes series when his courageous 59-run partnership with Brett Lee at Edgbaston ended three short of victory. After adding 20 he gloved a contentious catch behind and England levelled the series 1-1. Returning from that tour on the outer, he responded with 44 Pura Cup wickets for the Bulls and was recalled for the trip to South Africa, where he and Lee reversed their Birmingham nightmare with a 19-run stand that earned a nail-biting two-wicket victory.

Kasprowicz announced his retirement from cricket following Queensland's one-day match against Western Australia on February 16, a decision which would allow him to leave as Queensland's highest wicket-taker with 501 dismissals to his name, 38 more than Bichel. He immediately signed with the Indian Cricket League and was selected for the Mumbai Champs.
Peter English February 2008