Brad Haddin | Australia

Full name Bradley James Haddin

Born October 23, 1977, Cowra, New South Wales

Current age 31 years 227 days

Major teams Australia, Australian Capital Territory,New South Wales

Nickname BJ

Playing role Wicketkeeper batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Height 1.80 m

Bradley James Haddin (born 23 October 1977 in Cowra, New South Wales) is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper.

Haddin was selected in the first ever Mercantile Mutual Cup season of 1997/98 for the Australian Capital Territory. He has produced several memorable batting innings, including a top score of 133 against Victoria.


He became a replacement for Adam Gilchrist on several occasions, following Gilchrist's suffering of a hip injury. In September 2003, he replaced Simon Katich as captain of the New South Wales Blues, whilst Katich was on international duty, and he since been acting-captain on numerous occasions. He has also captained Australia A.

On 18 September 2006, playing against West Indies at Kuala Lumpur in the DLF Cup, Haddin and Australian captain Mike Hussey put on 165, which at that time was a world-record stand for the sixth wicket in ODIs.

Haddin became Australia's first choice wicket keeper after Adam Gilchrist's retirement. Haddin has since scored his first Test century in the second test against New Zealand in the 2008/2009 season.

Haddin was involved in a controversy relating to the dismissal of Neil Broom in an ODI in Perth in February 2009. Broom was given out bowled but replays appeared to suggest that Haddin's gloves had disturbed the bails. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori expressed his dissatisfaction with Haddin's actions in not calling Broom back to the wicket. His comment led to an angry retort from Australian captain Ricky Ponting. Ponting defended his team mate saying that Haddin was convinced the ball hit the stumps

Profile

Brad Haddin displayed impressive courage during his opening Test series in the West Indies when he played through the pain of a broken finger and by the end of his first year was one of the national team's most important assets. He was indispensable, shuffling around the one-day order, proving himself as a productive Test run-maker and slowly improving on his glovework. There were even a couple of Twenty20 captaincy engagements when Ponting, Clarke and Hussey were rested. The only serious break Haddin got in that time was to his finger.

Having waited seven years for an opening after gaining one-day international status in 2001, he was not going to return the chance to stamp himself as Adam Gilchrist's long-term replacement. The fracture to his right ring finger occurred in his debut Test, but he played through the final two games despite being in further discomfort when an infection developed. He eventually succumbed during the one-day series and went home with 16 Test catches and 151 runs at 30.20, including a confident double of 33 and 45 not out in the third contest.

Life in India was tougher and the flaws in his keeping were on show, but when he started contributing with the bat he was able to relax and both aspects of his game improved. The breakthrough occurred against New Zealand in Adelaide, where he passed 50 for the first time in Tests and went on to 169, showing flashes Gilchrist would have accepted. A hundred was narrowly missed at the WACA when he was fighting with the tail and there was only one single-figure score in six Tests against the Proteas. Memorable dismissals are harder to recall, but New Zealand supporters find it hard to forget the glove-assisted bowled of Neil Broom in a one-day game. By the end of that series Haddin had scored his first ODI century and was in charge of the Twenty20 outfit.

It was a satisfying elevation after holding the most nerve-fraying position in Australian cricket. Once he had seen off the highly rated contenders of Darren Berry, Wade Seccombe and Ryan Campbell, he was the wicketkeeper-in-waiting and was entrusted with warming the seat whenever Gilchrist needed a rest. There were no costly slips and when Gilchrist left Haddin was handed the gloves at the first opportunity. The pressure of being No. 2 did not hinder his batting and his keeping to a New South Wales attack swinging from Brett Lee to Stuart MacGill remained sharp.

In 2004-05 he scored 916 first-class runs at 57.25 while leading the Blues to a one-wicket Pura Cup victory over Queensland and he also posted a limited-overs century for Australia A against Pakistan. A regular leader of Australia's 2nd XI, Haddin backed up in 2005-06 with 617 Pura Cup runs at 51.41 and added another 669 at 55.75 the following year. In 2007-08, which was interrupted by national tours to India and a series of one-day appointments, he kept his average above 50 while scoring three hundreds in seven first-class games.

Haddin was a tourist for the 2005 Ashes but was used only once as a one-day Supersub and finished the game without having a hit. A former Australia Under-19 captain who grew up in Gundagai, he began his domestic career in 1997-98 with the Australian Capital Territory in their debut Mercantile Mutual Cup season, and two years later was playing for New South Wales.