Adam Voges

Adam Voges, a right-hand opening batsman from Western Australia, was initially most famous for his maiden one-day century in 2004-05, which was then the fastest in Australia’s domestic history which came in just 62 balls.

Since his first-class debut in 2002-03, Voges has been a prolific run-getter on the domestic circuit. He scored heavily in the Pura Cup for the next few seasons, with half centuries and hundreds pouring in at magnificent averages. Voges joined the English county side, Nottinghamshire, in 2008 and scored more than 600 runs at an average of 77.44. He led the Western Australian side in the absence of Marcus North and in 2007, also captained Australia A in Pakistan.

His first call-up to the national team came in 2006-07, when he was chosen to replace Damien Martyn, who retired unexpectedly during the Test series against England. His international debut came much later though when he played his first ODI in the 2007 Chappell-Hadlee series at Hamilton. Voges also made his Twenty20 International debut in the same year. The talented batsman continued to pile huge runs on the domestic front, which prompted the selectors to recall him in the one-day squad for the 2008-09 Chappell-Hadlee series.

Voges was always on the fringes of the national team and did not get many opportunities to make his mark on the international stage. 2013 was probably the most productive year in Voges' limited-overs international career as he got chances to make his mark. However, with just a single ton and a few starts here and there, Voges failed to make his mark in this format.

It seemed like Voges would never get the opportunity to represent Australia in Test matches but the moment finally arrived in 2015. After a fantastic 2014-15 Sheffield Shield season, where Voges scored 1358 runs at an average of 104.46, he was handed the prestigious Baggy Green cap. Voges made it a moment to remember as he became the oldest player to score a Test century on debut, at 35 years of age. He played a wonderful knock of 130 runs against West Indies in Dominica. Voges was also selected for the Ashes series in 2015 but he failed to make his mark there.

As Australian greats like Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin retired post the Ashes disappointment, Voges stepped up and was even made the vice-captain of the Australian side when David Warner was injured. In December 2015, Voges again made history against the Windies. He played an unbeaten knock of 269 runs off just 285 balls, surpassing Doug Walters' record of 242 for the highest score by an Australian against the West Indies. He followed up that innings with another unbeaten ton against the Windies and then a double ton against New Zealand, scoring an unprecedented 614 runs between dismissals, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record of 497 in the process. This was the time when Voges hit the peak of his powers but his form started to dip soon after.

Voges retired from international cricket on 14th February 2017, with an average of 61.87 in Test matches, the second-highest for anyone after Sir Donald Bradman among those to have played at least 20 matches. Voges was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the 2020 Australia Day Honours for "service to cricket." Notably, Adam Voges also won three Big Bash League titles with his side Perth Scorchers.