1953: OTD- Birth of Ian Davis, the Australian opener who played 15 Tests in the 1970s

Between 1973 and 1977, Ian Charles Davis, an Australian, participated in 15 Test matches and three One Day Internationals as a batter in cricket. After ending his career as a first-class cricket player in 1984, Davis worked for Dunlop Slazenger until retiring in 2010. In November 1973, Davis played his first Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales at The WACA against Western Australia. In the next game, Davis defeated South Australia with a first-inning score of 86.

Davis’s career took a significant turn when he was chosen to participate in all three New Zealand test series. In March 1974, he reached a major milestone, scoring his first test fifty in Christchurch. This feat, achieved by making precisely fifty runs off 107 balls, was a testament to his growing skills. Davis also made his ODI debut on this trip, hitting 11 runs without conceding a wicket at Dunedin.

Davis’s resilience and adaptability were put to the test when he was called up by Australia for the 1976–1977 home test series against Pakistan. He was chosen to open the batting in the first test in Brisbane. He hit his first century in the first innings (105 off 201 balls), a high point in his career. However, Sarfraz Nawaz knocked him out for a duck in the second, a low point that tested his resilience. In the second test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Davis bounced back, scoring fifty runs in each innings (56 and 88), and he concluded the three-match series with an average of 49.00, a testament to his adaptability.

Read More: Australia scored their highest Test total of 758 runs against West Indies in 1955