Daniel Trevor Christian (born 4 May 1983) is a former Australian professional cricketer with Aboriginal ancestry. He was considered a Twenty20 specialist and played for franchises all over the globe. Christian is known as a powerful hitter and a useful medium pacer. ESPNcricinfo's Peter English described him as a "natural all-rounder". He is seen as a cricket role model for Australia's indigenous population.[1]

Dan Christian
Personal information
Full name
Daniel Trevor Christian
Born (1983-05-04) 4 May 1983 (age 41)
Narrandera, New South Wales, Australia
NicknameDC, siri
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast-medium
RoleAll-rounder
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 191)5 February 2012 v India
Last ODI26 July 2021 v West Indies
ODI shirt no.54
T20I debut (cap 44)23 February 2010 v West Indies
Last T20I9 August 2021 v Bangladesh
T20I shirt no.54
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005/06–2006/07New South Wales
2007/08–2012/13South Australia
2010Hampshire
2011–2012Deccan Chargers
2011/12–2014/15Brisbane Heat
2013, 2021Royal Challengers Bangalore
2013Gloucestershire
2013/14–2017/18Victoria
2014Middlesex
2015–2020, 2022Nottinghamshire
2015/16–2017/18Hobart Hurricanes
2017Rising Pune Supergiants (squad no. 54)
2017Trinbago Knight Riders
2018Delhi Daredevils (squad no. 54)
2018–2019Jozi Stars
2018/19–2019/20Melbourne Renegades
2020/21–2023Sydney Sixers
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I LA T20
Matches 20 23 120 399
Runs scored 273 118 2,844 5,778
Batting average 21.00 14.75 32.68 23.01
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 2/14 2/17
Top score 39 39* 117 129
Balls bowled 727 279 3,896 5,721
Wickets 20 13 107 277
Bowling average 29.75 30.61 33.50 29.11
5 wickets in innings 1 0 3 2
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 5/31 3/27 6/48 5/14
Catches/stumpings 10/– 6/– 43/– 182/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 30 December 2022

Early life

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Born in 1983, Christian grew up in the town of Narrandera in the Riverina region of New South Wales and is of British, Irish Catholic and Australian Indigenous Wiradjuri ancestry.[1] He lived in Narrandera until the age of 13 when he moved to Sydney to attend St Gregory's College, Campbelltown.[2]

Cricket career

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Dan Christian during a BBL match in 2014

In 2003, Christian attended the Australian Cricket Academy.[3]

Christian played List A cricket for New South Wales in 2006 and 2007. After he was not offered a new contract for the 2007–08 season, he moved to South Australia where he soon found himself playing first-class cricket for the state team.[4]

In 2009, Christian captained an Indigenous Australian cricket team that toured England.[5] ESPNcricinfo noted that "With the bat Christian can be brutal, particularly when aiming at Adelaide's square boundaries, and he is one of those rare strikers whose eyes don't need a warm-up ball."[1] He was brought into Australia's Twenty20 team "following a series of brutal, clever and consistent performances."[1]

In February 2010, he made his Twenty20 International debut against the West Indies. The following month, he was selected as a member of Australia's squad for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

Christian played for Hampshire in their victorious 2010 Twenty20 Cup campaign.

Additionally, Christian was a part of the Deccan Charger’s team which competed annually in the DLF IPL - he was purchased for US$900,000.[6]

On 2 March 2012, he took figures of 5/31 which included a hat-trick in an ODI match against Sri Lanka at the MCG. Despite his impressive figures, Australia were unable to win the match.

He was picked up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a sum of US$100,000, and joined them for their IPL-6 campaign.

In 2013, Christian signed for the English side Gloucestershire Gladiators to play in the 2013 Twenty20 Cup,[7] although he did play a first-class game for Gloucestershire against Australia A. The following year he signed for Middlesex Panthers to play in the 2014 t20 Blast,[8] a spell which included an innings against Kent of 129, which included ten sixes and to date is the highest score by a batsman in a T20 game at the St. Lawrence Ground.[9][10]

In 2015, Christian signed for his 4th English County, Nottinghamshire in a spell that would bring both him and the club great success in the t20 Blast competition.[11]

In February 2017, he was bought by Rising Pune Supergiants team for the 2017 Indian Premier League.[12] In January 2018, he was bought by the Delhi Daredevils in the 2018 IPL auction.[13]

During the summer of 2018, he scored his first T20 hundred for the Notts Outlaws against Northamptonshire posting a record score at the County Ground in the process.[14]

In October 2018, he was named in Jozi Stars' squad for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament.[15][16] In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Dublin Chiefs in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.[17][18] However, the following month the tournament was cancelled.[19]

In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the Jozi Stars team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.[20] Christian led the Notts Outlaws to victory in the 2020 T20 Blast competition with a man of the match performance.[21]

In November 2020, he was picked by Karachi Kings for Pakistan Super League. He played the first few matches but withdrew from tournament in March 2021 due to a Covid-19 outbreak.[22] Before that he had played for Multan Sultans in the PSL 2019.[23]

In February 2021, Christian was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL auction ahead of the 2021 Indian Premier League.[24]

On 8 August 2021, Christian scored 30 runs off an over bowled by left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan as part of a 15-ball 39 scored against Bangladesh,[25] to become the first Australian to hit five sixes in a single over of a T20 international.[26] Later the same month, Christian was named as one of three players as injury cover in Australia's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[27]

Books

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In 2022 he wrote The All-rounder - The inside story of big time cricket with Gideon Haigh about his exploits in cricket during 2021 with RCB, Australia and in the Hundred.[28]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d English, Peter (30 April 2010). "The man from Narrandera". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  2. ^ "Cricket's gain is league's loss". Daily Telegraph (Sydney). 22 December 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Newsbank.
  3. ^ "ACB and AIS announce 2003 Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy scholars". ESPNcricinfo. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  4. ^ ESPNcricinfo - Players and Officials - Daniel Christian ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2007
  5. ^ "Aboriginal tour to mark 1868 groundbreakers". ESPNcricinfo. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Players sold in IPL Auction 2011". Ipl-schedule.com. 8 January 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  7. ^ "County news : Gloucestershire sign Daniel Christian for T20. Cricket News. County Cricket 2013". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Dan Christian signs to play Natwest T20 Blast cricket for Middlesex". Middlesex County Cricket Club. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  9. ^ Christian's brilliance fails to end Middlesex slump
  10. ^ "Canterbury T20 Blast Statistics and Records". T20 Head to Head. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club : Dan Christian". www.trentbridge.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  12. ^ "List of players sold and unsold at IPL auction 2017". ESPNcricinfo. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  13. ^ "List of sold and unsold players". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Northampton T20 Blast Statistics and Records". T20 Head to Head. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Mzansi Super League - full squad lists". Sport24. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Mzansi Super League Player Draft: The story so far". Independent Online. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  17. ^ "Eoin Morgan to represent Dublin franchise in inaugural Euro T20 Slam". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  18. ^ "Euro T20 Slam Player Draft completed". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Inaugural Euro T20 Slam cancelled at two weeks' notice". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  20. ^ "MSL 2.0 announces its T20 squads". Cricket South Africa. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  21. ^ "T20 Blast: Notts Outlaws beat Surrey to win trophy for second time". BBC. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  22. ^ "A timeline of how Covid-19 forced PSL 2021 to be suspended". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Pakistan Super League, 2018/19 - Multan Sultans batting averages". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  24. ^ "IPL 2021 auction: The list of sold and unsold players". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  25. ^ "Australia finally beat Bangladesh in T20 thanks to Christian heroics". The Guardian. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Records loom as 'crazy' series hits new scoring low". Cricket.com.au. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  27. ^ "Josh Inglis earns call-up and key names return in Australia's T20 World Cup squad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  28. ^ "The All-rounder". Retrieved 14 April 2022.
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