Experts in the field
Image: Getty Images/Scott Barbour
Like a lot of Australian children, I grew up with dreams of one day wearing the Baggy Green and representing my country when I was older.
And while I certainly scored a lot of runs and took a lot of wickets playing in the backyard against my brother during our childhood and teenage summers, that was the extent of my cricketing prowess.
I did venture outside the backyard one summer years later, and played one season of Sunday D-grade games in the Mercantile Cricket Association with a group of friends from university.
The friends I played with were all far better cricketers that I was, so my role was making up the numbers to ensure we had 11 players each week.
I don't think I ever batted any higher than eight or nine (from memory my best effort was 11 not out) and am pretty sure I only bowled once in a game when a team was trying to bowl us out twice in a day — we're talking real can't bowl, can't throw areas.
Watching the BBL over the summer got me thinking about how many of these professional cricketers had also gone through games without getting a bat and/or a bowl.
Was this a common occurrence? And were there players who had long-term success despite not making "significant" contributions to the team on a regular basis?