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Full name Shaun William Tait
Born February 22, 1983, Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia
Current age 25 years 154 days
Major teams Australia,Durham,South Australia
Nickname Sloon
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast
Height
1.93 m
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
3
5
2
20
8
6.66
46
43.47
0
0
4
0
1
0
ODIs
18
1
0
11
11
11.00
10
110.00
0
0
1
1
2
0
T20Is
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0
0
First-class
46
65
26
455
68
11.66
895
50.83
0
2
12
0
List A
61
21
11
65
22*
6.50
110
59.09
0
0
11
0
Twenty20
8
5
2
42
14*
14.00
49
85.71
0
0
1
2
1
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
3
6
414
302
5
3/97
3/121
60.40
4.37
82.8
0
0
0
ODIs
18
17
849
774
33
4/39
4/39
23.45
5.46
25.7
1
0
0
T20Is
1
1
24
22
2
2/22
2/22
11.00
5.50
12.0
0
0
0
First-class
46
8409
5131
185
7/29
27.73
3.66
45.4
17
7
1
List A
61
3029
2528
116
8/43
8/43
21.79
5.00
26.1
5
2
0
Twenty20
8
8
176
187
16
4/14
4/14
11.68
6.37
11.0
1
0
0
Career statistics
Test debut
England v Australia at Nottingham, Aug 25-28, 2005 scorecard
Last Test
Australia v India at Perth, Jan 16-19, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
Australia v England at Sydney, Feb 2, 2007 scorecard
Last ODI
Australia v New Zealand at Hobart, Dec 20, 2007 scorecard
ODI statistics
Only T20I
Australia v New Zealand at Perth, Dec 11, 2007 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut
2002/03
Last First-class
Australia v India at Perth, Jan 16-19, 2008 scorecard
List A debut
2002/03
Last List A
Victoria v South Australia at Traralgon, Jan 27, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut
Australia A v Pakistanis at Adelaide, Jan 13, 2005 scorecard
Last Twenty20
South Australia v Victoria at Adelaide, Jan 10, 2008 scorecard
Profile
Shaun Tait's shoulder-strong action slung him on to the 2005 Ashes tour, where he played two Tests ahead of his more celebrated South Australia team-mate Jason Gillespie, but it soon disrupted his quest for further international impact. With a muscular and unrefined method that seems to invite pain, Tait returned from England buoyed by his promotion only to hurt himself in a grade match and the subsequent shoulder surgery forced him out for the rest of the year. Fortunately he experienced no damage to his frightening pace stores, and he returned to national colours in the absence of Brett Lee to play a significant role in Australia's unbeaten defence of the 2007 World Cup. The effort and high profile took its toll, however, and in January 2008 he announced he would be taking an indefinite break from the game due to physical and emotional exhaustion.
Despite the setbacks - a back problem suffered in the nets ended his trip to South Africa and a hamstring complaint delayed his ODI entry until the eve of the World Cup in 2007 - his old-fashioned approach of yorkers and bumpers mixed with a modern dose of sharp reverse-swing has excited followers who cross fingers Tait and Lee can still be the 21st century's version of Lillee and Thomson. "That's what I've had in the back of my mind as well," he said when asked if the pair could replicate the 1970s icons. To confirm the point he even shines the ball across his chest and finished his first Test day with a splash of red on his shirt as well as the wickets of Marcus Trescothick and Ian Bell. Unlike his tearaway predecessors, he can't live without his Playstation 2.
The Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year in 2003-04, Tait also picked up the ING Cup's Best New Talent prize, chiefly for his 8 for 43 against Tasmania, the most impressive figures in domestic limited-overs history. When Lee was injured Tait was taken as a development player on the Sri Lanka tour, where he introduced himself to the newly installed captain Ricky Ponting in the nets by hitting him in the head with a bouncer. His early beginnings might have been spicy, but his next year was even tastier with 65 first-class wickets in ten matches. An abbreviated 2005-06 included 6 for 41 in the ING Cup Final - an amazing combination of spot-on speed and 14 wides - and he backed up the following season to earn his first start in the national one-day side.
In his opening two matches he showed his range, giving up 2 for 68 and 1 for 26 from his ten overs, and clocked 160kph. It won him a World Cup spot and his 23 wickets at 20.30 in the Caribbean proved Dennis Lillee's belief he "has all the resources to stick the ball right up the noses of the batsmen". However, he needed elbow surgery on his return home and spent the winter in rehab. A child of the Adelaide Hills, he received his best advice at the age of seven when his father suggested he play cricket.
Peter English February 2008
Notes
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year - 2004
ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2007
