Andrew John Bichel (born 27 August 1970) is a former Australian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, who played 19 Test matches and 67

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s for Australia between 1997 and 2004. He was a right-arm fast-medium bowler, but was also a hard-hitting lower-order

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

. Bichel was a member of the Australian team who won the

2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the ...

. Bichel represented

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in the Australian domestic competitions. He also played for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in English

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

. Since retiring from playing, Bichel has been a coach and a selector. He is a cousin of Chris Sabburg.

Personal life

Bichel was born to parents of German ancestry, married Dion in 1997 and they have two children.

Domestic career

As well as Queensland's state team, he has played for the English Counties

and

, where he had successful sessions on Essex with the bat and ball. Professional Walsden Cricket Club in the Central Lancashire League

International career

Early years

Bichel made his Test debut for Australia in Adelaide in 1996 in a match against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, and his one-day international debut in Brisbane in the same year, also against the West Indies. His rise to prominence coincided with the emergence of a young

Brett Lee Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) 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 representin ...

, with whom he was, for many years, often in a battle with Lee for the third fast-bowler spot in the Australian line-up behind

Glenn McGrath Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer whose career spanned 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler and is considered one of cricket's greatest bowlers and a leading contributor to Aus ...

and

Jason Gillespie Jason Neil Gillespie (born 19 April 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Jason Gillespie was appointed as the head coach for Pakistan's red-ball (Test) cricket team on April 28, 202 ...

. As the younger and pacier Lee was often selected ahead of him, Bichel now holds the Test match record of being twelfth man for Australia on 19 occasions. He would later claim that his bowling suffered during these times, as he missed out on the valuable match practice that he could have earned either playing for Australia or Queensland.

2003 Cricket World Cup

A highlight of Bichel's career was Australia's 2003 World Cup campaign. He was initially back up to

and

, playing his first game against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and making a good impression with the ball. However, after injury prematurely ended Gillespie's World Cup tournament, Bichel took over his position in the side. Bichel would go on to retrieve Australia from serious trouble on more than one occasion, most notably with figures of 7–20 against England. This bowling performance became the best-ever figures against England in ODIs, the best bowling at St George's Park in ODIs, and the best bowling in a World Cup match as well. In the same match, he also played a crucial role with the bat, combining with

Michael Bevan Michael Gwyl Bevan (born 8 May 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm wrist spin bowler. For several years, he was considered the world's finest One Day International (ODI) ...

for an unbeaten 73-run ninth-wicket partnership to ease Australia to victory, with Bickel finishing on 34 not out. Similarly, in the Super Six stage, he came to the crease with Australia floundering at just 84-7 against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Bichel and Bevan again saved Australia, with Bichel registering his highest score of 64 as Australia put up a winning total batting first. In the semi-final against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, he bowled tightly, conceding only 0–18 in 10 overs but his fielding pressure caused the spectacular run out of

Aravinda de Silva Deshabandu Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva (, ; born 17 October 1965) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain, regarded as one of the best Sri Lankan cricketers, he played in the team as an all-rounder. De Silva was a key member of the Sri L ...

as Bichel picked up, spun around and threw down the stumps to prevent a tight single off his own bowling. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, he picked up one wicket, bowling

Rahul Dravid Rahul Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former cricket player, ex-captain and ex-coach of the Indian national cricket team. Known for his outstanding batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely re ...

, as Australia won, completing an undefeated campaign.

Injury and retirement

At the start of the 2004–05 Australian summer, Bichel was not offered a contract by

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

, an indication that its selectors did not realistically believe he would represent Australia in that season. His performances in the domestic competition, however, continued to be at the same high standards as before and it was clear he wanted to make another return to the international scene. Bichel's bowling at state level during the 2004–05 domestic season earned him the Domestic Player of the Year award at the 2005 Australian cricket awards. However, he announced his retirement on 9 February 2009, saying he never fully recovered from his shoulder injury.

Post retirement

Chennai Super Kings The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...

, the IPL Champions of 2010 season, acquired Andy Bichel's services as a bowling coach for the team's youngsters for

IPL 2011 The 2011 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 4 or the IPL 2011, was the fourth season of the Indian Premier League, the top Twenty20 cricket league in India. The tournament was hosted in India and the opening and closing ceremonies ...

season. He was later the coach of Papua New Guinea. On 11 November 2011, it was announced that Andy Bichel would join the Cricket Australia selection panel. In 2014 it was announced that Bichel had partnered

Tangalooma Originally a whaling station, Tangalooma Island Resort (formerly known as Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort) is a resort on the west side of Moreton Island in Queensland, Australia. It lies on the eastern shore of Moreton Bay and is known for its ...

Island Resort to be an official brand ambassador. Bichel has been well credited for his art in the fast bowling coaching landscape. His mantra of 'FTOO' is preached throughout Queensland Cricket.

References

External links

Andy Bichel Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bichel, Andrew Australia One Day International cricketers Australia Test cricketers Queensland cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Essex cricketers Hampshire cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in England Cricketers from Queensland 1970 births Living people Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Australian cricketers Australian cricket coaches Commonwealth Games silver medallists in cricket Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Australian people of German descent Australia national cricket team selectors Coaches of the Papua New Guinea national cricket team Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games People from Laidley, Queensland 20th-century Australian sportsmen 21st-century Australian sportsmen