Player: | DJ Cullinan |
DateLine: 12th December 2005
Daryll Cullinan was a rare example of a cricketer who was able to build a substantial career on the foundations of prodigiously early exploits. His First-class debut for Border came as a schoolboy, and his compilation of a First-class century two months before his seventeenth birthday is still a record. A Test average of 44, with 14 hundreds (in five different countries) clearly demonstrates Cullinans pedigree. However, many memories of him will revolve around his ill-fated war of sledges with Shane Warne. Their spat had been started by Cullinan, after he had unwisely explained how he was going to best Warne, and despite him holding his own in their legendary on the field sledging, there was only one cricketing winner. In seven Tests against Australia he averaged just 12.75, with his average in Australia being a barely believable 4.42. Although Warne dismissed him just four times out of eleven, the whole saga had clearly wound him up into a state of paralysing intensity. Despite (or perhaps because of,) his outstanding talent, Cullinan often found it easy to fall out with people. In his first spell in county cricket in 1995, he found the practical jokery of the Derbyshire dressing room (and the English game in general) to be wearisome. He also found it hard to settle with a South African state, frequently uprooting himself to play elsewhere. He retired from international cricket in 2002 after falling out with the South African cricket board. Despite being recalled and earmarked to replace the injured Shaun Pollock as captain against Australia in the 2nd Test in March 2002, Cullinan withdrew on the eve of the match after being refused a senior contract. He apologised for this eight months later, and dropped unsubtle hints about once again being available for selection. However, his absence had given a certain Graeme Smith his Test match debut, and despite South Africa creaking under the pressure of racial quotas and the fall out from Cronjegate, time had passed Cullinan by, although maverick (and short term) coach Ray Jennings had wanted him to tour India at the age of 37. For all his prickliness, it shouldnt be forgotten that Cullinan was a vital cog in the wheel of the South African side of the mid-late 1990s, a time when they were arguably the second best Test team in the world.
 
December 2005(Article: Copyright © 2005 Matthew Reed)
LATEST SCORES
CURRENT EVENTS
- Bhutan Quadrangular T20I Series 2024/25
- England in Pakistan 2024/25
- England in West Indies 2024/25
- ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League Two 2023/24 to 2027
- ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Sub Regional Qualifier B 2024/25
- ICC Women's World Twenty20 2024/25
- ICC World Test Championship 2023 to 2025
- India in South Africa 2024/25
- Nepal in United States of America 2024/25
- New Zealand in India 2024/25
- New Zealand Women in India 2024/25
- Pakistan in Australia 2024/25
- Seychelles in Kenya 2024/25
- Singapore Women's T20I Tri-Series 2024/25
- South Africa in Bangladesh 2024/25
- United States of America Women in Zimbabwe 2024/25
- West Indies in Sri Lanka 2024/25
View all Current Events CLICK HERE