Ben Dunk

Ben Robert Dunk (born 11 March 1987) is an Australian professional cricketer who last played for the Lahore Qalandars and Melbourne Stars. Previously, he has played for Queensland and Tasmania in Australian domestic cricket as a left-handed batsman. He can also play as a wicket-keeper, and is a capable bowler, bowling right arm off spin.[1]

Ben Dunk

Personal information
Full name	Ben Robert Dunk
Born	11 March 1987 Innisfail, Queensland, Australia
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off-break
Role	Wicket-keeper-batsman
International information
National side	Australia
T20I debut (cap 72)	5 November 2014 v South Africa
Last T20I	22 February 2017 v Sri Lanka
T20I shirt no.	51
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2009/10–2011/12	Queensland
2011/12	Sydney Thunder
2013/14–2015/16	Hobart Hurricanes
2012/13–2017/18	Tasmania
2014	Mumbai Indians
2016/17	Adelaide Strikers
2017/18–2020/21	Melbourne Stars
2019	Karachi Kings
2020	Lahore Qalandars (squad no. 51)
Career statistics
Competition T20I FC LA T20 Matches 5 43 44 125 Runs scored 99 2,303 1,347 2,759 Batting average 19.80 30.30 33.67 24.85 100s/50s 0/0 4/11 3/6 0/15 Top score 32 190 229* 99* Balls bowled – 198 104 60 Wickets – 4 5 2 Bowling average – 42.25 15.40 44.50 5 wickets in innings – 0 0 0 10 wickets in match – 0 0 0 Best bowling – 1/4 3/14 1/19 Catches/stumpings 5/2 43/0 28/3 66/7
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 21 January 2020

He made his Twenty20 International debut for Australia against South Africa on 5 November 2014.[2]

Early career

Born in the northern Queensland town of Innisfail, Dunk moved to Brisbane early in his career to broaden his cricketing opportunities. He participated in a specialist cricket program at Mitchelton State High School before winning a Rugby and Cricket scholarship to Brisbane Grammar School. He played for the Northern Suburbs District Cricket Club in Queensland's grade cricket competition and represented Queensland in youth representative teams.[1][3] He was also in the Australian squad for the 2005 World Youth Cup.[4]

Domestic and T20 franchise career

Dunk made his debut for Queensland in December 2009, having been selected in the Twenty20 team. 2009-10 was a breakout season for Dunk, playing 9 games, highlighted by an innings of 70 not out off 40 balls.[1][5] He made his Sheffield Shield debut for Queensland in October 2010, playing as a specialist batsman (Chris Hartley retained selection as Queensland's wicket-keeper).[6]

In 2012, Dunk moved to the Tasmanian Tigers. On 18 October 2014 he scored an unbeaten 229 against Queensland in the domestic one-day competition, surpassing David Warner's 197 and became the first one-day double century in Australian Domestic cricket.

Dunk has been a standout player Australia's domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League, with Dunk being the 4th highest run scorer of the tournaments history. He has been the top run scorer of a season on two occasions, the equal most by any player in the BBL. Dunk has played for four of the eight franchises throughout his BBL career, currently playing for the Melbourne Stars. He has also played for both Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalanders in the Pakistan Super League. In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.[7]

In July 2020, he was named in the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League.[8][9]

References

1. "Ben Dunk". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
2. "South Africa tour of Australia (November 2014), 1st T20I: Australia v South Africa at Adelaide, Nov 5, 2014". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
3. "Ben Dunk destined for success". Northside Chronicle. Quest Community Newspapers. 26 October 2010. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
4. "Bulls call on Ben Dunk to replaced injured wicketkeeper Chris Hartley". The Courier-Mail. News Limited. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
5. "Surprise selection slams Dunk". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
6. Coverdale, Brydon (5 October 2010). "Ben Dunk named for Sheffield Shield debut". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
7. "MSL 2.0 announces its T20 squads". Cricket South Africa. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
8. "Nabi, Lamichhane, Dunk earn big in CPL 2020 draft". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
9. "Teams Selected for Hero CPL 2020". Cricket West Indies. Retrieved 6 July 2020.