Geoffrey Francis Lawson,OAM (born 7 December 1957)[1] is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer and the former coach of the Pakistan cricket team.
Nicknamed "Henry" after the Australian poet,Lawson was a fast bowler for New South Wales (NSW) and Australia.[2] He first played for NSW in 1977–78,made his international debut in 1980–81. Lawson made three tours of England,including the 1989 Ashes-winning tour.
For a few seasons in the early 1980s,Lawson was Australia's leading fast bowler,but his career suffered from poor luck with injury.
Lawson received the Order of Australia in 1990 for services to cricket and in 2002 he was given the Australian Sports Medal. He is a qualified optometrist[3] who graduated with a Bachelor of Optometry (BOptom) from the University of New South Wales.
Since his playing retirement,Lawson has been a coach,commentator and writer on the game. He has broadcast for ABC Radio,Channel Nine and Foxsports,and contributed to The Sydney Morning Herald and other newspapers and magazines in various countries. He has coached the Kochi Tuskers Kerala.
International career
Lawson first came to notice in international cricket by bowling a series of bouncers during a brief spell against Geoff Boycott in a tour match between NSW and England in the 1978–79 season.[3] He was called up as a replacement player for the 1979 tour of India,but did not play a Test match. Similarly,he toured Pakistan in 1980 and did not make the Test team.
He took three wickets during his debut in the first Test against New Zealand at Brisbane in 1980–81,and played the first three ODIs of his career in the World Series Cup. In only his third Test,Lawson returned 7/81 in the first innings against England at Lord's in 1981,which earned him the man of the match award.[4] However,injuries interrupted his progress. He missed the last three Tests of the series with a back injury[5] and played only one Test in the following Australian season,against the West Indies at Melbourne. Chosen for nine preliminary ODIs in the World Series Cup,his total of nine wickets was not enough to earn him selection for the finals against the West Indies.
Establishing himself as a leading bowler on Australia's tour of Pakistan in 1982,Lawson claimed nine wickets at 33.55 in three Tests on slow wickets not conducive to fast bowling.[6] He then won the 'Player of the Series' award for his efforts in the 1982–83 Ashes series. In the absence of the injured Dennis Lillee,he became the spearhead of the Australian attack,taking 34 wickets at 20.20 average. This included 5/108 in the second innings at Perth during the first Test (where he scored 50 in the first innings),match figures of 11/134 at Brisbane,and 4/46 and 5/66 at Adelaide. Australia won the series 2–1 and regained the Ashes. Lawson enjoyed a successful World Series Cup tournament,capturing 16 wickets at 15.80 in ten ODIs as Australia defeated New Zealand in the final.
Opting to miss the short tour of Sri Lanka that followed,Lawson returned to the team for the 1983 World Cup. The Australians failed to make the semi-final in a disappointing performance and Lawson's contribution was five wickets in four games. Against Pakistan in 1983–84,he was again Australia's most successful Test bowler in a 2–0 win,taking 24 wickets at 24.16,including 5/59 and 4/48 in the fifth Test at Sydney.
Lawson had a mediocre 1984 tour of the West Indies,taking only 12 wickets in five Tests;although he performed better on the short one day tour of India later that year. Playing against the West Indies in the Australian season of 1984–85,Lawson returned to form with 23 wickets at 25.60. In the third Test at Adelaide,he claimed 8/112 in a marathon spell on a batting-friendly pitch,then made 49 in the first innings but Australia lost the match,and eventually the series 1–3. During the season,he played 15 ODIs and took 17 wickets,but surprisingly was never chosen for an ODI in Australia again.
Leading an inexperienced bowling attack weakened by player defections to the rebel tours of South Africa,Lawson captured 24 wickets in six Tests against England in 1985 despite suffering bronchial problems throughout the tour. His best was 5/103 in the first innings at Nottingham and a score of 53 in the fifth Test at Edgbaston. However,his wickets were obtained at the expensive average of 37.72,as England compiled a series of high scores and won the series 3–1.[7] The weakened Australian team fared little better in the 1985–86 season,playing New Zealand and India. Injury restricted Lawson to only two Tests against the Kiwis,for five wickets.
As Australia began rebuilding its team,Lawson was absent for most of the next three years,due to injuries and falling out of favour with the selectors and the captain Allan Border. He played a single Test in both the 1986–87 Ashes series[8] and the 1988–89 series against the West Indies. In the latter match,he took three wickets,but had his jaw broken by a bouncer from Curtly Ambrose while batting.[9] Lawson recovered to make the 1989 tour of England,when his experience and guile contributed to a resurgence in Australia's performances. Forming a potent pace bowling attack with Terry Alderman and Merv Hughes,Lawson finished with 29 wickets at 27.27 as Australia won back the Ashes with a crushing 4–0 victory.[10] His best performance came in the fourth Test at Manchester,where he took 6/72 and 3/81 and was named man of the match. In the second Test at Lord's,Lawson hit a career-best 74 in the first innings in sharing a partnership of 130 with Steve Waugh.
It proved to be the Indian summer of his career. He played his last ODIs during the Nehru Cup tournament in India that followed the England tour. In the 1989–90 Australian season,he played one Test against New Zealand (for two wickets) and then took a solitary wicket in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Brisbane. Dropped for the next Test,he failed to regain his place although he continued playing for NSW until the end of the 1991–92 season.
Domestic cricket career
In the Sheffield Shield competition,he captained New South Wales between 1988 and 1992,leading the team to the title in the 1991–92 final,his final first-class game. In all,he captured 395 wickets for NSW. His positive,aggressive captaincy influenced NSW colleagues and future Australian captains Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh.[2] He had a brief playing stint for Lancashire in the English County Championship.
Coaching career
Between 1995 and 1997,Lawson was coach of the NSW team. On 16 July 2007,he was appointed as coach of the Pakistan cricket team for two years,becoming the third foreigner to take on the role.[11] On 20 October 2008,Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt stated Lawson's contract would not be renewed once his term finishes in April 2009 stating "We have no utility for Lawson."[12] He was subsequently sacked on 24 October 2008.[13] He describes the time he lived as an Australian in Lahore as "enjoyable."[14]
Related Research Articles
Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ is a former Jamaican cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001,captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats,best known for a remarkable opening bowling partnership along with fellow West Indian Curtly Ambrose for several years. Walsh played 132 Tests and 205 ODIs for the West Indies and took 519 and 227 wickets respectively. He shared 421 Test wickets with Ambrose in 49 matches. He held the record of most Test wickets from 2000,after he broke the record of Kapil Dev. This record was later broken in 2004 by Shane Warne. He was the first bowler to reach 500 wickets in Test cricket. His autobiography is entitled "Heart of the Lion". Walsh was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1987. In October 2010,he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was appointed as the Specialist Bowling Coach of Bangladesh Cricket Team in August 2016.
David Clarence Boon is an Australian cricket match referee,former cricket commentator and international cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1996. A right-handed batsman and a very occasional off-spin bowler,he played first-class cricket for both his home state Tasmania and English county side Durham. Boon was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup.
Brett Lee is an Australian former international cricketer,who played all three formats of the game. During his international career,Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world. With his time representing Australia,Lee won multiple ICC titles with the team:the 2003 Cricket World Cup,the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy,and the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. Lee was the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the T20 format of the game which he did in 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in the inaugural tournament against Bangladesh,subsequently being the first bowler to do so at an ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Lee was also the first Australian bowler to take a hat-trick at a Cricket World Cup which he did in the 2003 Cricket World Cup Super Match game against Kenya.
Mushtaq Ahmed is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who currently acts as the spin bowling coach for the Bangladesh national cricket team. A leg break googly bowler,at his peak he was described as being one of the best three wrist-spinners in the world. In an international career that spanned from 1990 until 2003,he claimed 185 wickets in Test cricket and 161 in One Day Internationals. He was at his most prolific internationally between 1995 and 1998,but his most successful years were as a domestic player for Sussex in the early 2000s.
Craig John McDermott is a former Australian cricketer. Between 1984 and 1996 he played 71 Tests for Australia,taking 291 wickets. Following the end of his playing career,he was the bowling coach for the Australian team for two spells between 2011 and 2016. McDermott was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup.
Abdul Qadir Khan SI was an international cricketer who bowled leg spin for Pakistan. Abdul Qadir is widely regarded as a legendary leg spinner from the 1970s and 1980s and was a role model for up and coming leg spinners. Qadir was voted the best player in the Group B matches of the 1987 Cricket World Cup and won a car which he donated to Imran Khan for his Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre project. Later he was a commentator and Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board,from which he resigned in 2009 due to differences of opinion with leading Pakistan cricket administrators.
Robert George Dylan Willis was an English cricketer,who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler,Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1979 Cricket World Cup.
James Michael Anderson is an English cricketer who plays for the England and Wales cricket team and Lancashire,and previously played for England's limited overs cricket teams. Anderson is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He holds the record for most wickets by a pace bowler in Test cricket history,having taken 700 wickets as of 9 March 2024. Anderson was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.
The England cricket team toured Australia during the 1986–87 cricket season for a five-match Test series to contest The Ashes. While in Australia,England also played a number of tour matches against state and representative teams,and competed in two One-Day International (ODI) tournaments. Under the captaincy of Mike Gatting,England retained the Ashes with a 2–1 series win.
Graham Douglas McKenzie –commonly known as "Garth",after the comic strip hero –is an Australian cricketer who played for Western Australia (1960–74),Leicestershire (1969–75),Transvaal (1979–80) and Australia (1961–71) and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1965. He succeeded Alan Davidson as Australia's premier fast bowler and was in turn succeeded by Dennis Lillee,playing with both at either end of his career. McKenzie was particularly noted for his muscular physique and ability to take wickets on good batting tracks. His father Eric McKenzie and uncle Douglas McKenzie played cricket for Western Australia. Garth was chosen for the Ashes tour of England in 1961 aged only 20. He made his debut in the Second Test at Lord's,where his 5/37 wrapped up the England innings to give Australia a 5-wicket victory.
Geoffrey Miller,is an English former cricketer,who played in 34 Test matches and 25 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1976 and 1984. He played for Derbyshire from 1973 to 1986,captaining the side from 1979 to 1981,and returned in 1990 after playing for Essex between 1987 and 1989. He was an England selector from 2008 to 2013 and was appointed President of Derbyshire C.C.C. in March 2014. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1979 Cricket World Cup.
Edward Ernest Hemmings is a former English cricketer,who played in 16 Test matches and 33 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1982 and 1991. He made his England debut relatively late in his career,at the age of 33,having predominantly represented Nottinghamshire in the County Championship. His chance came when several England players announced their intention to go on a rebel cricket tour to South Africa. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1987 Cricket World Cup.
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a former English cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team and was One Day and Twenty20 International captain. Broad was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. His longevity,and highly successful partnership with fellow fast bowler James Anderson has resulted in him cementing himself as one of England's greatest Test bowlers of all time.
Kuldeep Yadav is an Indian international cricketer. He bowls Left-arm unorthodox spin who plays for India and for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket. He was signed by the Delhi Capitals for the Indian Premier League. He was a part of the Indian squads which won the 2018 Asia Cup and the 2023 Asia Cup.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
