A genuine pacer, McDermott lead the Australian pace attack during its transition phase with a lot of skill and tenacity. Bursting into the team as a 19 year old youngster against West Indies, McDermott impressed one and all with his ability to procure pace, bounce and seam movement with his pre-dominantly sideways action. The result was 30 wickets in 6 Tests on his first trip to England.

McDermott had a successful 1987 Reliance WC helping Australia secure their first ever crown. When in rhythm, McDermott was a treat to watch and like any Aussie reserved his best for arch rivals, England against whom he took 84 wickets in 17 tests. His best moment was at the WACA, Perth where he took 8/97 as England collapsed from 191/2 to 244 all-out helping Australia win the test and seal the Ashes at 3-0.

McDermott was a tenacious batsman as well and was capable of adding important runs later down the order.

Despite an injury raven career, McDermott finished his test career with 291 wickets in 71 matches which included 14 five wicket hauls and 2 ten-fers. He was placed just behind the great Dennis Lillee in the wickets stack pole until being overtaken by his successor, Glenn McGrath. A spate of injuries resulted in McDermott missing the Ashes in 1993, the historical and successful West Indian tour in 1995 and the World Cup, 1996. He called it a day after injury forced him out in the preliminary stages of the 1996 WC.

His son, Alister McDermott is a promising young cricketer with Queensland as well as the Brisbane Heat team. McDermott was named as the bowling coach of the Australian cricket team in May, 2011 and has been acclaimed for his role in the development of the next generation pacers.


By Pradeep Krishnamurthy