Peter George - Australia - Bowler

6’ 6’’ tall lanky pacer Peter George was born in Woodville, Adelaide in the late 80s. Often compared to Australian great Glenn McGrath for his height and action, Peter made his Test debut in 2010 against India. However, that was the one and only Test he played in his international career. At the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, the speedster cleaned up Sachin Tendulkar on 214; a Test that India won by 7 wickets. Interestingly, it was also the same match wherein India's present number 3, Cheteshwar Pujara made his international debut. George couldn't hold on to his place in that Australian Test line-up but he played a crucial role for Queensland thereafter.

George is one of those pace bowlers who has a beautiful action with the ability to engender sharp bounce and surprise batsmen. As he delivers the ball from close to 7 feet, he can strangle batsmen and often rattle them with his velocity and bounce. Before playing for Queensland, George was a part of South Australia, where he was a requisite member of the team. The tall and thin speedster holds the record for best bowling figures at Bellerive Oval (8 for 84) - his career best figures. During the time he made his Test debut, George was picked up for the Tests against England and New Zealand, however due to the presence of other experienced pacers in the Australian bowling attack, he didn't get a chance to feature in the playing XI.

In his first-class debut against Tasmania, back in 2008, George grabbed four wickets that also included an intimidating spell wherein he got the scalps of Tim Paine, Luke Butterworth and Brett Geeves. It was a memorable first-class debut for the lanky pacer, indeed. In his 60-odd First-class matches, George has taken in excess of 200 wickets with five 5-wicket hauls along with a 10-for in a match. Just like many other fast bowlers, even George has gone through quite a few injuries in his career and that has been one of the reasons for not being able to grab a place in the Australian team.

By Nikhil Jadhav