Michael Gwyl Bevan

Profile:

As well as being a fine fieldsman and an underestimated left arm wrist spinner, Michael Bevan is one of Australia's most exciting and skilful strokeplayers. A left hander who places a higher price on his wicket than most batsmen, he is also a lightning-fast runner between the wickets with an amazing capacity to scamper ones and twos successfully.

Born in Canberra, Bevan made his first-class debut in 1989-90 in South Australian colours (hitting a thrilling century in his very first innings) before the completion of a 12-month stint at the Australian Cricket Academy led to a move back to New South Wales the following year. It was in Sydney that he began to make his greatest strides as a player, quickly assuming a regular middle order berth in the then strongest state team in the country and - aside from a poor run in 1992-93 which resulted in a brief omission from the ranks - using it as a launching pad from which he gained an Australian cap for the first time in 1993-94.

Variously dubbed the world's best limited-overs batsman, it is for his uncanny knack of being able to work the ball into even the narrowest of gaps in the field; to see many innings through to their conclusion without losing his wicket; and to accumulate runs with a minimum of fuss, for which he has essentially become best known.