Carl Gray Rackemann (born 3 June 1960) is a former

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

. He was a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

in 12

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

, 52

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...

s and 167

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

matches in a career spanning 1979/80 to 1995/96.

International career

Rackemann, a well built fast bowler, was born in Wondai, Queensland. He made his Test debut versus England at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in 1982 and was consistently picked for the national side, mainly for One Day Internationals, until 1985. He was the leading wicket taker during the 1984-85 tour of India. He signed up to play in the rebel tours of South Africa (1985–86 and 1986–87), thereby becoming ineligible to be a member of the official Australian team during that time. Rackemann came back into the Australian team in 1989, being picked for that year's Ashes tour to England. In the 2nd innings of the Test against New Zealand in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

in 1989–90, he achieved the bowling analysis of 31 overs, 21 maidens, 23 runs and 1 wicket. He was well known for being a poor

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, th ...

, making only 53 runs in his 14 test innings, with a highest score of 15 not out. Ironically, in spite of this reputation, Rackemann's last test innings in 1991 helped Australia to retain

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

, his stubborn 102-ball second-innings 9 helping Australia secure the draw that they needed in the third test at Sydney.

Queensland career

Rackemann held the

state record of 425 wickets until overtaken by

Michael Kasprowicz Michael Scott Kasprowicz (born 10 February 1972) is a former Australian international cricketer, who played all formats of the game. He is a right arm fast bowler. He represented Queensland and played in the English county scene at first cla ...

. Rackemann's last game for Queensland was the 1994-95

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Sh ...

Final. Queensland won this match and the Shield for the first time. This was a relief for Rackemann as he had played in four of Queensland's previous final defeats. He played English county cricket for Surrey 2nd XI in 1981 and Surrey in 1995 and was briefly recalled to the Australian side in 1995 for their tour of the West Indies due to a fast bowling injury crisis. After his playing career, he went on to the national coaching position for the Zimbabwean national cricket team for two seasons from 2000. He has now returned to farming in Queensland and is also an after dinner speaker. He has inspired an expatriate Australian cricket team in London "Carl Rackemann All Stars (CRAS)"

Politics

Rackemann stood as a

Katter's Australian Party Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian political party in Australia. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral ...

candidate in the

electoral district of Nanango Nanango is an electoral division in the state of Queensland, Australia. Notable towns include Nanango, Kingaroy and Crows Nest. It has existed twice. It was first created in 1912, and was replaced by Barambah in 1950. It was recreated in ...

during the

2012 Queensland state election The 2012 Queensland state election was held on 24 March 2012 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament. The Labor Party (ALP), led by Premier Anna Bligh, was defeated by the opposition Liberal National Pa ...

. His attempt was unsuccessful.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rackemann, Carl 1960 births Australian cricketers Australia One Day International cricketers Australia Test cricketers Australian cricket coaches Cricketers from Brisbane Living people Queensland cricketers Queensland cricket captains Surrey cricketers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia