Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Daniel James Cullen
Born April 10, 1984, Woodville, Adelaide, South Australia
Current age 24 years 180 days
Major teams Australia, Somerset, South Australia
Nickname Fiery
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Height 1.83 m

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

ODIs

66.66

First-class

530

15.58

List A

27*

9.20

171

53.80

Twenty20

6.33

84.44

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

1/25

1/54

54.00

3.85

84.0

ODIs

213

147

2/25

73.50

4.14

106.5

First-class

9286

4980

120

5/38

41.50

3.21

77.3

List A

2234

1715

3/28

33.62

4.60

43.8

Twenty20

246

294

3/23

22.61

7.17

18.9

Career statistics

Only Test

Bangladesh v Australia at Chittagong (CDS), Apr 16-20, 2006 scorecard

Test statistics

ODI debut

Bangladesh v Australia at Chittagong (CDS), Apr 23, 2006 scorecard

Last ODI

Australia v West Indies at Kuala Lumpur, Sep 18, 2006 scorecard

ODI statistics

First-class debut

2004/05

Last First-class

New South Wales v South Australia at Sydney, Mar 7-9, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

2004/05

Last List A

South Australia v Tasmania at Adelaide, Feb 13, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Victoria v South Australia at Melbourne, Jan 8, 2006 scorecard

Last Twenty20

South Australia v Victoria at Adelaide, Jan 10, 2008 scorecard

Add another name to South Australia's impressive list of slow bowlers. After Clarrie Grimmett, Ashley Mallett, Terry Jenner and Tim May comes the offspinner Dan Cullen. An exciting dyed-blond deceiver, Cullen remains in the queue to replace Shane Warne as Australia's long-term No. 1 and has developed similar characteristics to the hero he chased for an autograph as a ten-year-old. A crafty, heavy-turner who carries a sense of mystery and Australian innovation with his ability to deliver the doosra, Cullen has shown during a steep introduction that he is unafraid to upset batsmen with his flight, dip, spin or verbal banter.

Although he has fallen a few spots in the national spin list, Cullen had an adequate 2007-08 as he picked up 18 Pura Cup wickets at 49.44 and he headed the Redbacks' one-day list with 13 victims. At least he used the summer to prove he is the best spinner in his state after he was dropped from the first-class outfit during 2006-07 in favour of the legspinner Cullen Bailey. Cullen retained his national contract at the end of the season - although he lost it in 2008 - as the selectors focused on his promise rather than results after 13 Pura Cup wickets at 40.76 and seven at 48.14 in the limited-overs competition. The dry returns followed a barren appointment in Somerset and the change in his mood was noticeable as he briefly flirted with copying the fall of Nathan Hauritz, who slipped from Test bowler to grade player in a summer.

Cullen burst into the Pura Cup four seasons ago with 43 wickets at 30.37 and while his second summer in 2005-06 was harder - a broken finger was collected alongside 27 victims at 47.88 - he was named the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year at the Allan Border Medal. "He has all the toys, he is young and he has got a bit of fire about him," Warne said late in 2005. "He will definitely play for Australia. It is good to see we have a genuine offspinner." Warne's prediction was fulfilled on the tour of Bangladesh when Cullen formed part of a rare three-pronged spin attack for the second Test at Chittagong, picking up Mashrafe Mortaza and bowling 14 overs. A student of Jenner, he must now continue to work for his rewards instead of expecting them.
Peter English October 2008

Mar 13, 2008

Members of the Australian Cricketers' Association all-star Pura Cup and FR Cup teams for 2007-08 © Getty Images

Mar 13, 2008

Members of the Australian Cricketers' Association all-star Pura Cup and FR Cup teams for 2007-08 © Getty Images

Mar 7, 2008

Dan Cullen jolted the Blues' top order with three wickets in as many overs © Getty Images

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