Jimmy Maher - Australia - Batsman

There wasn't anything that Jimmy Maher couldn't do to get a place in the side. Apart from being a gifted left-handed batsman who oozed class in his strokeplay, he was a utility medium pacer and could also keep wickets when needed. Like most left-handers, Maher's signature stroke was the cover drive which he unfurled with absolute class. After having played a couple of ODIs for Australia in 1998, it seemed like Maher's international career was done. However, relentless consistency in the domestic circuit saw him make a return in 2002. It was due to a sensational Pura Cup season in 2001-02, where he became the first ever batsman to aggregate over 1000 runs in a season, that Maher was able to storm his way back into the national side.

It was in the same year that Australia were determined to start the process of transition and had dropped the Waugh brothers unceremoniously from the ODI squad. Ricky Ponting was appointed captain and there were a plethora of changes in the squad. As the selectors looked for youth, they also wanted experience, even if it was at the domestic circuit alone and that's where Maher came in. The tour to South Africa was his comeback series and although he played a couple of impact knocks, the consistency never really came. He earned a World Cup spot for the 2003 edition and played a couple of games too without any success. Brad Haddin's emergence as back up keeper meant that Maher was dropped towards the end of 2003. He continued to plunder runs in domestic cricket and after a lukewarm 2007-08 season, hanged up his boots to proceed to the Indian Cricket League.