Shaun Tait      

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 ...

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. In January 2008 he announced he would be taking an indefinite break from the game due to physical and emotional exhaustion, although Cricket Australia maintained its faith, Tait retained his contract and was ready to return by the start of 2008-09.

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 October 2008