Douglas Marillier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dougie Marillier Zimbabwe (ZIM)
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling type	Right-arm offbreak
	Tests	ODIs
Matches	5	48
Runs scored	186	672
Batting average	31.00	18.16
100s/50s	-/2	1/3
Top score	73	100
Balls bowled	616	1574
Wickets	11	30
Bowling average	29.27	41.16
5 wickets in innings	-	-
10 wickets in match	-	n/a
Best bowling	4/57	4/38
Catches/stumpings	2/-	12/-
As of 11 February 2006 Source: Cricinfo.com

Douglas Anthony Marillier (born June 24, 1978 in Harare) is a Zimbabwean cricketer.

He is a right hand batsman and a right arm offspin bowler. He has a one-day top score of 100, achieved in Sharjah against Kenya in April 2003. He is credited as the inventor of the Marillier shot, in which the batsman extends the bat as a ramp in front of him and flicks the ball over his shoulder to fine leg. He is generally referred to as Doug.

Doug was born in Harare, his father was a policeman and played cricket for the Harare Police Club, as well as occasionally playing for Zimbabwe and before that Rhodesia. Doug first played cricket at North Park Primary School, and in his third year he started to play in the Colts side, with boys three years older than him. Although this seems a reasonable achievement, Neil Marillier was part-time coach there and Doug believes his selection was the result of nepotism.

Doug attended Eaglesvale High School in Harare and quickly became a key figure for the cricket team there, although the team was a weak one. When he was 16, Doug played for Mashonaland U19s for the first time.

Just as his career was taking off, however, disaster struck. Doug was involved in a horrific car accident. A truck pulled out in front of the car he was in; and he broke both his femurs, suffered a compound fracture in the right leg, severed an artery there as well, and had a bone in his left leg crushed. Doug was in a wheelchair for three months; many doubted he would play cricket again. He missed a year of school and cricket. But he slowly recovered.

While he was recovering and still unable to play himself, Doug involved himself in coaching, and a bit of umpiring, to stay involved in the game. Doug himself never lost faith that he would one day play again, and this belief helped him through a difficult time. He finally returned to play in a school match almost a year after the accident, opening the batting against Oakham School from England. Rather short of confidence, he padded away the first ball, to be given out lbw. He did rather better in his next match, scoring a sixty.

It was the accident that made Doug determined to make a success of his career, and in his last year at Eaglesvale he blasted two double centuries and nine hundreds. Doug admits that during his second double hundred he was hungover from overindulging at a school Speech Night party and set out with the goal of having a quick slog!

Doug toured England with the Zimbabwe U19 team in 1996 and set a then world record partnership of 268 for the first wicket with his friend Mark Vermeulen When Doug got back from that tour he started playing league cricket, and his good form there led to his selection for Zimbabwe B. He did not play for a while but when he did he played very well, hitting 108 against Border B. In 1997 he played for Kenilworth in England, hitting 1207 runs in 97, followed by 1218 in 1999.

Doug applied for and was accepted by the CFX Academy in 1999 and he did well there; he played against the Australian Academy and he did so well that he got to go to Australia for two and a half weeks attending the Academy. When he returned Douglas hit a hundred for the Academy against the New Zealanders in a one-day warm-up game, and this led to his selection for the full national side for the ODI series.

Doug made his debut in place of Craig Wishart in the second match. The first ball he faced was on his legs and so he flicked it away for three, which settled him. He put on 83 for the first wicket with Alistair Campbell before pulling a long hop to midwicket for 27. Their stand was a major reason why Zimbabwe won the match. In the third game he scored 47, in a partnership of 97 with Campbell.

Zimbabwe next travelled to Nairobi for the ICC Knockout Competition, but unfortunately the team had already been selected, so Doug was unable to go. He was naturally a member of the following overseas trip, the extended tour of Sharjah, India, New Zealand and Australia. Opening the batting in five one-day internationals, his highest score was only 11, but the tour selectors persevered with him, putting him down to number seven, where he scored 38 against India. He also made his Test debut against New Zealand, scoring 28.

His lack of consistency meant that he did not play in the triangular tournament in Australia, which also included West Indies, until the final match. He could hardly have had a more testing experience, as a fine Zimbabwe batting performance after Australia scored over 300 meant that he came in at number seven needing to score 15 in the final over, bowled by Glenn McGrath, to win the match.

He moved across to the first two balls he received from McGrath and flicked them over his shoulder to fine leg for boundaries, reviving hopes of an incredible Zimbabwe victory. But he was just unable to complete the job, and his team lost by one run. His two courageous and unorthodox boundary strokes, though, made him a legend, temporarily at least, with the shot becoming known as the Marillier shot.

Now, whenever he is mentioned he's called an "Unorthodox" batsman and that shot is still in use, although it's very risky. Notable exponents of the Marillier shot include the New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, the England opener Andrew Strauss and the Australian captain Ricky Ponting

Back in Zimbabwe, he did well in the Logan Cup, captaining the Midlands team and scoring two centuries to average 55. However, this was down the order, as he decided his technique was not tight enough for him to open the innings. Despite his domestic success, he failed to keep his place against Bangladesh, and decided to take up a club appointment in England rather than stay at home and hope for selection against India and West Indies. He might have had a match or two, in fact, as Zimbabwe suffered from injuries, and had he been available he might have played in the final Test against the West Indies instead of Hamilton Masakadza, who hit a century on debut.

He won back his place in the one-day side against England, but failed again with the bat; it was surprisingly his bowling that kept him in the team, after he took four wickets for 38 against England at Bulawayo and continued thereafter to bowl his flighted off-breaks usefully. After scoring 19 runs in five innings, two of them opening, he broke through with 52 not out at number six against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, followed by 37 in Pakistan.

Doug continued to do reasonably well for the national side. In 2002 he "Marilliered" Zimbabwe to a famous win in India in an ODI with a 36* at the death, although this time he used the shot against Anil Kumble. He made the side for the World Cup but did not do well. After the World Cup however he had an excellent tournament in Sharjah, taking wickets as well as scoring 100 against Kenya, his first international hundred, as an opener.

In England however Doug had a bad form slump and lost his place, although his tight bowling in tandem with Ray Price was a key factor in Zimbabwe's only ODI win, over England at Bristol. He did not play for the national side again, with first Wishart then Barney Rogers preferred to him as opener. Just before the rebellion Doug announced his retirement from cricket. However he has since return in action in domestic cricket.

Doug's international stats don't do him justice really; he averages 31 in Tests with two fifties, although it has to be said both came against Bangladesh, and in ODIs his batting average is only 18 (but he can be a match winner on his day) and 41 with the ball, with 30 wickets. In 1st Class cricket Doug averages 37 with 6 hundreds and 13 fifties. With the ball he averages 37 with 46 wickets. In Domestic One-day cricket his batting average is 25, 3 hundreds 9 fifties and 40 with the ball taking 56 wickets.

Doug's cricketing heroes are, like so many Zimbabweans, the Flower brothers, Andy and Grant. He rates Glenn McGrath as the most difficult opponent he has faced although he said that before he made a mockery of him in Australia! Doug used to play field hockey for his school as well as tennis but he doesn't really play any more. For relaxation Doug enjoys a bit of fishing.

Doug's brother Eian Marillier, a wicketkeeper, played a few first-class matches in Zimbabwe, although only for a short time.