Ian Wayne Callen (born 2 May 1955) 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 in one Test match and five

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 between 1978 and 1982. He later ran a business making cricket bats from English willow he grew in Victoria and was the cricket writer for Sportshounds.

Cricket career

Callen made his first-class debut for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

in 1976–77. In his fourth

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

match he took 4 for 55 and 5 for 15 in an innings victory for Victoria over

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, and in the next match he took 1 for 82 and 8 for 42 in a 10-wicket victory over

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 ...

. His only Test came 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 ...

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in 1978. Despite being badly affected by the injections he had received just before the match in preparation for the tour to the West Indies that was to follow, he took three wickets in each innings, helping bowl Australia to a series-winning victory. On the night before the last day's play, he collapsed in the team hotel and was placed on an

intravenous drip Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

, but recovered to take an important part in Australia's victory on the last day. On the tour of the West Indies, he played in the first ODI, taking 1-42, and the second, taking 3-24. During the tour he fractured a vertebra in his lower back. In 1982 he returned to international cricket in Pakistan with the Australian side. He played in three ODIs, taking 1-32, 0-50 and not bowling in the third. He never fully recovered from the lower back injury.

Later career

Callen established Ian Callen Sports in 1981. He sold it in 1985 to concentrate on making a range of three bats, the MX, the K-IX and the Aussie Boomah. His company in the

Yarra Valley The Yarra Valley is a region in Victoria, Australia, centred around the Yarra River. Known for its natural beauty, agricultural significance, and as one of Australia's prominent wine-producing areas, the valley stretches from the upper reache ...

, Callen Cricket, has re-established the growing of cricket-bat willow from stock sent to Australia by English Test captain A. C. MacLaren in 1902. He harvests and processes the timber from his plantations at

Healesville Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 64 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Healesville recorded a population of 7,589 in the 2021 census. H ...

and Sale. The timber is used for the manufacture of cricket bats and picture frame mouldings. He conducts courses teaching the craft of making cricket bats by hand. At first he used willow imported from England, but now he uses his own.

References

External links

*
Callen Cricket website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callen, Ian 1955 births Living people Australia Test cricketers Australia One Day International cricketers Boland cricketers Victoria cricketers Northumberland cricketers Australian cricketers Cricketers from Victoria (state) Cricket equipment manufacturers People from Alexandra, Victoria Australian company founders 20th-century Australian sportsmen