Marcus James North (born 28 July 1979) is a former Australian

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er who played 21 Test matches and two

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 (ODIs) for the Australian national side. Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, North grew up in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, attending

Kent Street Senior High School Kent Street Senior High School is a Public school (government funded), public Mixed-sex education, co-educational specialist school, specialist Secondary education#Australia, high day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school in the Town ...

as part of their Specialist Cricket Program, and was a successful junior cricketer, entering the Australian Cricket Academy and playing under-19 cricket for Australia. He made his first-class debut for the Academy in 1999, and his debut for the Western Australian cricket team the same year. Having established himself in the WA team, North debuted for Australia A during the 2002–03 season, and later began playing in the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

during the 2004 English cricket season, for Durham. In English cricket, he would go on to play for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

(2005),

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

(2006 and 2014),

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

(2007–2008),

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, ...

(2009), and

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

(2012–2013), becoming the first player of any nationality to represent six different counties. North was made captain of Western Australia for the 2007–08 season, and was consistently selected for Australia A, which he also captained. A left-handed batsman, part-time right-arm off-break bowler and fields at either 1st or 3rd slip, North made his Test debut for Australia in February 2009, scoring a

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

on debut against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He played a further 20 Tests and two ODIs for Australia before being dropped from the side during the 2010–11 Ashes series. Upon the entry of the Perth Scorchers into the newly created Big Bash League, North was appointed the team's captain. However, in October 2012, North resigned as captain of both WA and the Scorchers to concentrate on his playing career. He retired from Australian domestic cricket at the end of the 2013–14 season. After his retirement North moved to the north east of England to play cricket at South Northumberland Cricket Club. As of 2018, he is director of cricket at Durham.

Youth career

North played junior cricket together with Mike Hussey at the Wanneroo Districts Cricket Club between 1994 and 1996. North had a very successful junior career that included playing for several Academy and national junior sides. North posted scores of 200 not out and 132 in a youth Test match against Pakistan in 1997. He made his first-class debut for the Australian Cricket Academy against a Matabeleland Invitation XI in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

during the Academy's tour of

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

in 1999.

Domestic career

North made his Pura Cup debut for

against Victoria in 1999. In October 2006, North and Chris Rogers compiled a record domestic third wicket partnership of 459 against Victoria at the

WACA Ground The WACA Ground () is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA). The WACA has been referred to as Western Australia' ...

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, making his highest score of 239 not out in the process. In February 2007, North finished second to Rogers in the voting for Australia's best state player. With former Test player Justin Langer stepping down as captain of the Western Warriors, North was awarded the captaincy for the 2007–08 season. However injuries hampered his first season as captain, restricting him to only four first-class matches and three one-day matches. North first played in England for Gateshead Fell in the North East Premier League in 2000. He also played some

Natwest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

games for Durham Cricket Board. In the following season, North signed as the professional player for Colne Cricket Club in the Lancashire League. He returned to Gateshead Fell for the 2002 and 2003 seasons before signing to play county cricket for Durham as a replacement for Herschelle Gibbs. The following season he replaced Brad Hodge at

when Hodge was selected to be part of the Australia's 2005 Ashes series squad, and in 2006 he replaced Travis Birt at

when Birt was selected in the Australia A side. North was signed as a replacement for New Zealander Hamish Marshall at Gloucestershire at the start of the 2007 county season. Despite only playing five matches he managed three centuries one of which won him the Walter Lawrence Trophy, the award for scoring for fastest century during the English season. He returned to Gloucestershire for the 2008 season, but played for

in the early

season as a replacement for Imran Tahir. He signed a two-year deal for 2012 and 2013 as an overseas player for

, becoming the first player to play first-class cricket for six different counties. He was appointed Glamorgans' one day captain for the 2013 season.

International career

On 5 February 2009, North was called up to the Australia squad to face

during Australia's tour of

.Cricket Australia team announcements
/ref> North displayed a strong all-round performance in the only tour match against the Board President's XI where he scored two unbeaten half-centuries and claimed career-best bowling figures of 6/69 off 11 overs. North was selected to make his Test debut against

in the First Test at the New Wanderers Stadium at

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, becoming the 409th Australian to earn a Test cap. He made his debut alongside fellow debutants Phillip Hughes and Ben Hilfenhaus. North scored his maiden Test century 117 runs in his first Test innings, becoming the first West Australian and the eighteenth Australian to score a century in his first Test, and the first Australian to do so against South Africa. In this match, North also claimed his first Test wicket, dismissing South African tailender Paul Harris. On 11 July 2009, during the First Ashes Test of 2009, at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, North scored his second Test century in his third Test match, 125 not out, sharing in a 200 run partnership with Brad Haddin, who also scored his second Test century in this innings. In the second innings of the Third Test, North made 96 in a 185 run partnership with Michael Clarke to help Australia secure a draw. He scored 110 in the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley, hitting a six to bring up his century. During the First Test against Pakistan at Lords in July 2010, North took a Test-best haul of 6-55 in Pakistan's second innings, doubling his career test wickets tally in the process. North was dropped from the Australian test team on 10 December 2010 due to poor form during the 2010–11 Ashes series against England.

Career best performances

''Updated 4 October 2013''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Marcus 1979 births Living people People educated at Kent Street Senior High School Directors of Cricket Australian cricketers Australia One Day International cricketers Australia Test cricketers Australia Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne Cricketers who made a century on Test debut Derbyshire cricketers Durham Cricket Board cricketers Durham cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in England Glamorgan cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Hampshire cricketers Lancashire cricketers Perth Scorchers cricketers Sydney Sixers cricketers Western Australia cricketers 21st-century Australian sportsmen