Marie Janice Cornish OAM (; born 1 October 1956) is an Australian former

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 as a right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to ...

bowler and right-handed batter. She appeared in nine Test matches and 16 One Day Internationals for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

between 1976 and 1982. She was vice-captain of the national team and played in Australia's victorious teams at the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and

1982 Women's Cricket World Cup The 1982 Women's Cricket World Cup, known as the 1982 Hansells Vita Fresh World Cup for sponsorship purposes, was an international cricket tournament played in New Zealand from 10 January to 7 February 1982. Hosted by New Zealand for the first ...

s. She played domestic cricket for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Personal life

Cornish was born Marie Janice Lutschini on 1 October 1956 in

Wellington, New South Wales Wellington is a town in the Central Western Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the junction of the Wambuul Macquarie River, Wambuul Macquarie and Bell Rivers. It is within the Local government in Australia, local government ...

. She was the daughter of Peter and Jan Lutschini. Her paternal grandfather immigrated to Australia from the Soviet Union via Italy and Canada; his original Russian surname was Italianised. Her mother is of South African descent. Her brother Mitchell is a businessman in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and has served as deputy chairman of

Cricket PNG Cricket PNG, originally founded as the Papua New Guinea Cricket Board of Control, is the official Sport governing body, governing body of the sport of cricket in Papua New Guinea. Its current headquarters is in Port Moresby. Cricket PNG was fou ...

. Cornish grew up in country New South Wales where her father worked as a farmhand. She spent her early years in

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

before the family settled in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, where she attended Wellington High School.

Cricket career

From a young age Cornish played cricket on boys' teams. At the age of 15 she top-scored for the New South Wales Under-25s 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 ...

International career

Cornish made her international debut for Australia on a 1976 tour of the West Indies, aged 19. In the second

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

of the series she took 5/51. Named vice-captain of Australia at the age of 22, Cornish played at the

1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

in India and the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

in New Zealand. She was at the crease when the winning runs were scored in the 1982 World Cup final against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, finishing with 24 not out as Australia won by three wickets with one over to spare.

Personal life

Cornish retired from international cricket at the age of 25 to work full-time at the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

. She had two children with her husband Peter, and remained involved in cricket as a coach, manager, and selector. In 2008, Cornish was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

(OAM) for services to cricket and the Wellington community. She was named a life member of Cricket New South Wales in 2012 and the Marie Cornish Trophy is awarded to the winner of the state schoolgirls' knockout competition.

References

External links

* *
Marie Cornish
at

southernstars.org.au The Australian women's national cricket team, formerly known as the Southern Stars, represent Australia in international cricket. Currently captained by Alyssa Healy and coached by Shelley Nitschke, they are the top team in all world rankings ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornish, Marie Living people 1956 births Cricketers from New South Wales Sportspeople from Wellington, New South Wales Australia women Test cricketers Australia women One Day International cricketers New South Wales Breakers cricketers Australian people of Russian descent Australian people of South African descent Sportspeople of South African descent 20th-century Australian sportswomen