Raymond James Bright was born on 13 July 1954 and is a former Australian Test and One Day International cricketer from Victoria.
97 Facts About Ray Bright
1.
2.
Ray Bright was a left arm spin bowler and right handed lower order batsman who captained Victoria for a number of seasons.
3.
Ray Bright captained Australia in one match, his final One Day International appearance for his country, against Pakistan in April 1986.
4.
Ray Bright was aged 17, the youngest player picked for the state since World War Two.
5.
Ray Bright played for Victoria colts and toured Sri Lanka.
6.
Ray Bright kept his place in the Victorian side for the rest of the season.
7.
Ray Bright ended up taking 32 wickets over the summer at an average of 19.6.
8.
Ray Bright was the youngest Australian sent abroad since the selectors sent Ian Craig and Ron Archer to England in 1953,.
9.
Ray Bright only took one wicket in his first first-class game for Australia, against Canterbury.
10.
Ray Bright took one wicket against Auckland but four against Northern Districts.
11.
Ray Bright only took 8 first class wickets on the tour but had a healthy average of 21.87.
12.
Ray Bright made his one-day international debut on tour, playing in the third ODI against New Zealand.
13.
Ray Bright expected to spend the 1974 winter at home when he received a call from the Ramsbottom Club in the Lancashire League.
14.
Ray Bright accepted the offer despite only having three weeks notice.
15.
Ray Bright had little luck on his first weekend and says he "got abused by 500 workers" at this factory on Monday.
16.
Ray Bright ended up taking 523 runs for the season at 30.8 and 73 wickets at 9.7.
17.
Ray Bright trained with his local Australian rules club Spotswood, for whom he had once played.
18.
That summer Ray Bright took 19 wickets at an average of 25 making him one of the better performing spinners in the country.
19.
Ray Bright was picked on the 1977 Tour of New Zealand.
20.
Ray Bright was the second spinner in the squad, after Kerry O'Keefe.
21.
Ray Bright was selected in the 12 for the first test but was made 12th man when the Australian selectors decided to keep faith in Gary Gilmour.
22.
Ray Bright fielded throughout England's two innings as substitute for Rick McCosker who had suffered a broken jaw when batting in Australia's first innings.
23.
Early in the tour it was announced that Ray Bright had signed to play World Series Cricket.
24.
Ray Bright had solid form early in the tour, particularly with the bat.
25.
Ray Bright made his ODI debut in the second one dayer, but only bowled three overs.
26.
Ray Bright was in the original 13 man squad for the first test but O'Keeffe was preferred as sole spinner.
27.
Australia decided to play two spinners for the second, allowing Ray Bright to make his test debut.
28.
Ray Bright's signing meant he was banned from training with the Victorian squad.
29.
Ray Bright only bowled four overs in the rain-shortened, low scoring 4th test, which Australia lost against the World XI.
30.
Ray Bright had another strong game in the fifth test, against the World XI.
31.
Ray Bright scored 41 in Australia's first dig but they lost the game by an innings and 73 runs.
32.
Ray Bright took 17 supertest wickets for the summerall up at an average of 28.8 and scored 192 runs at an average of 21.
33.
Ray Bright again scored some useful lower order runs and took one wicket.
34.
Ray Bright went to the West Indies with the Australian XI for World Series Cricket.
35.
Australia won a thrilling third Supertest by 27 runs; however it was Ian Chappell, not Ray Bright, who bowled them to victory at the end.
36.
Ray Bright was at the wicket when the last ball of unofficial World Series Cricket was bowled.
37.
Ray Bright had enjoyed an excellent World Series Cricket, being Australia's number one spinner for the entire time.
38.
Ray Bright received another call from a club in the Lancashire League, when East Lancashire needed a replacement for Peter Sleep, who was touring India with the official Australian team.
39.
Ray Bright participated in a single wicket competition against such players as David Gower and Zaheer Abbas.
40.
Ray Bright was picked in the Australian side to play in the first test against the West Indies.
41.
Ray Bright played several one day games, against the West Indies, England and the West Indies.
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Ray Bright was then dropped for the next one day game.
43.
Ray Bright was kept in the squad for the next game, the second test against the West Indies but was made 12th man in favour of Jim Higgs.
44.
Ray Bright was dropped for the second test against England in favour of Ian Chappell.
45.
Ray Bright only took seven first class wickets over the summer at an average of 63.85.
46.
Nonetheless, Ray Bright was picked on the 1980 Tour of Pakistan.
47.
Ray Bright's efforts earned him selection on the 1980 tour to England to play the second Centenary Test.
48.
Ray Bright was one of two spinners, the other being Ashley Mallett.
49.
Ray Bright played well against Hampshire but did not overly impress in other games on the tour.
50.
Ray Bright played in a sole one day international and was named in the final 12 for the 1980 Centenary Test along with Ashley Mallet.
51.
Ray Bright scored 70 in a McDonald's Cup game against WA.
52.
Ray Bright was selected over Bruce Yardley who had more wickets for a lesser average and had been playing tests for Australia; Bob Holland and Peter Sleep had better figures than Bright.
53.
Ray Bright has been to England twice before, with little success, and apart from a fruitful series on the Pakistan wickets last year has only a moderate Test record.
54.
Ray Bright began the tour poorly, struggling the Sri Lankan leg of the tour, and in early games.
55.
Ray Bright was picked for the first test but ended up being relegated to 12th man as Australia went for an all pace attack.
56.
Ray Bright had only taken ten wickets but many of the tour games had been shortened by rain and his experience got him preferred to Graeme Beard.
57.
Ray Bright was not used at all in England's first innings and only bowled four overs in the second innings, despite Ian Botham's famous counter-attacking knock which helped England win the game after following on.
58.
Hughes later admitted not bowling Ray Bright more in England's second innings was a big mistake.
59.
Ray Bright bowled "with a clever variation of flight and pace" and put Australia in a winning position, requiring only 151 to win.
60.
Ray Bright took 40 wickets on tour at an average of 26.4.
61.
Ray Bright was picked in a 13-man test squad to play the West Indies but did not make the final 12.
62.
Ray Bright was kept in the squad for the second test but did not play either.
63.
Ray Bright did not bowl particularly impressively in the tour games, only taking two first class wickets in total.
64.
Ray Bright was picked on the 1982 tour of Pakistan, where Ray Bright had enjoyed success before.
65.
Ray Bright took four wickets in a tour game and was picked for the first test against Pakistan, playing in tandem with Yardley.
66.
Ray Bright was dropped for the third test in favor of Terry Alderman.
67.
Ray Bright took 12 wickets at 30 on the tour, but his performance was generally considered disappointing.
68.
Ray Bright began the season poorly and was even dropped from the Victorian side for a one-day game.
69.
Ray Bright's name was linked with early reports of the rebel cricket sides to tour South Africa.
70.
Ray Bright said he had not been approached but would consider any offer.
71.
Ray Bright was picked in the Australian side for the second test against New Zealand at the spin-friendly SCG, replacing an unfit Geoff Lawson as a third spin option.
72.
Ray Bright's gritty outlook and stubborn tactics has not always endeared him, particularly as the Victorian leader.
73.
Ray Bright was picked in the 12 for the third test but did not play, with Australia picking a third pace bowler.
74.
That summer, Ray Bright became Victoria's most capped player with 100 games, overtaking Bill Lawry's record of 99.
75.
Ray Bright was made captain of Australia for a short one day international tour of the United Arab Emirates.
76.
Border and Ray Bright were the only members of the squad who had toured New Zealand before.
77.
Ray Bright was 12th man for the first test as Border felt the pitch was more suited to a seamer.
78.
Ray Bright's batting was useful helping Australia escape with a draw.
79.
Ray Bright led Australia for the first time in a one-day game against Nelson.
80.
Ray Bright captained Australia in a three-day game against Central Districts, which ended in a draw.
81.
Ray Bright was left out of the team for the first one-day internationals.
82.
Australia won the fourth game which Ray Bright played but did not bowl in.
83.
Ray Bright took 9 first class wickets at 33 for the tour.
84.
The tour of the UAE followed, where Ray Bright captained the side.
85.
Ray Bright was still chosen on the tour of India, as the second spinner alongside Greg Matthews.
86.
Ray Bright took four wickets in 3 matches at an average of 245 and was considered likely to be made 12th man for the first test.
87.
Ray Bright ended up scoring 30 and taking part in a partnership with Dean Jones, who made 210.
88.
Ray Bright collapsed and had to be helped from the field.
89.
Ray Bright returned to the field and took the wickets of Chetan Sharma and Kiran More.
90.
Ray Bright was dropped from the squad for the fourth test.
91.
Ray Bright led the Victorian team to the Sheffield Shield final, but they lost to Western Australia.
92.
Ray Bright had a solid season, with 29 wickets at 31.41.
93.
Ray Bright averaged 89 in draws, 50 in the first innings, 182 when Australia lost the toss and were put in.
94.
Ray Bright ended his first-class career with 471 wickets at an average of 32.08 and scored two centuries.
95.
Ray Bright has taken on a number of coaching roles.
96.
Ray Bright has recently taken up the senior assistant coaching role with the Vermont South Cricket Club in the Box Hill Reporter league where his son Matt opens the bowling and batting in the 1st XI.
97.
Ray Bright met his English-born second wife, Jacquie, on the 1977 tour of England and has two sons.