Simon Patrick O'Donnell was born on 26 January 1963 and is an Australian former cricketer, VFL footballer, and horse racing and cricket commentator.
52 Facts About Simon O'Donnell
1.
2.
Simon O'Donnell is a former record holder for the fastest One Day International half-century.
3.
Simon O'Donnell was educated at Deniliquin High School and Assumption College.
4.
Simon O'Donnell played as an all-rounder for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield between 1984 and 1993, scoring a century in his first match.
5.
Simon O'Donnell went on to play 6 Test matches in 1985,5 on the Ashes tour of England and one at home, but with a low bowling strike rate in 5 and 4 day cricket, he was more successful in the shorter form of the game.
6.
Simon O'Donnell played in Australia's 1987 World Cup Final victory and was a significant wicket-taker and finished the World cup as Australia's most economical bowler, but soon after he suffered severe pain that was diagnosed as non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
7.
Simon O'Donnell maintained a very good batting strike rate of 80.96 runs per 100 balls in ODIs, almost double his scoring rate in Tests.
8.
Coincidentally, Kevin Simon O'Donnell played alongside two more notable Australian cricketers; Sam Loxton and Keith Miller, members of the 1948 Invincibles.
9.
Simon O'Donnell played 24 games and kicked 18 goals between 1982 and 1983 in what was then the VFL.
10.
Simon O'Donnell hosted Melbourne radio station Sport 927's morning program with Kevin Bartlett until 2004.
11.
In November 2011, it was announced that Simon O'Donnell would replace James Brayshaw as host of The Sunday Footy Show.
12.
However, in November 2012, Nine announced that Simon O'Donnell had left the network.
13.
Simon O'Donnell made his first class debut for Victoria against South Australia at the MCG in February 1984.
14.
Simon O'Donnell made 78 in a run-heavy game against the touring West Indies and hit 42 off 43 balls and 129 against Western Australia.
15.
Simon O'Donnell was selected in the Prime Ministers XI to play the West Indies.
16.
In January 1985 Simon O'Donnell was named in the 12 man Australian one day squad.
17.
Simon O'Donnell scored 25 in a defeat against the West Indies.
18.
Simon O'Donnell was selected on the squad to tour England for the Ashes.
19.
Simon O'Donnell had only played seven first-class matches, hitting 528 runs at an average of 66, with two centuries, and had taken 15 wickets at an average of 38.23.
20.
Simon O'Donnell was still listed in the St Kilda squad.
21.
Simon O'Donnell leapt into test contention with a score of 100 against the MCC.
22.
Simon O'Donnell played in the Australian team for the one day internationals, taking two crucial wickets in the second.
23.
Simon O'Donnell was picked in Australian side for the first test, as the fourth bowler.
24.
Simon O'Donnell scored 24 and took 3 wickets in England's second innings.
25.
Simon O'Donnell kept his place in the side for the second test.
26.
Simon O'Donnell proved his usefulness with the bat, helping Australia navigate a tricky second innings run chase and hitting the winning runs with a six.
27.
Simon O'Donnell was made 12th man for the last test.
28.
Simon O'Donnell recovered in time to be selected for the first test against New Zealand.
29.
Simon O'Donnell was kept in the squad and played in the second test against New Zealand.
30.
Simon O'Donnell took part in an important second innings partnership which guided Australia to victory.
31.
Simon O'Donnell was out of cricket for a number of weeks.
32.
Simon O'Donnell followed this with 77 against England in a tour game and 86 against West Australia.
33.
Simon O'Donnell was unable to force his way back into the test team but was selected in Australia's one day squad.
34.
Simon O'Donnell made 80 and 78 against WA in the Sheffield Shield final, but Victoria did not win the game.
35.
Simon O'Donnell was selected to play in Australia's one day tour of Sharjah in 1987 and the World Cup.
36.
Simon O'Donnell says he told Simpson after Australia won the semi-final in Pakistan.
37.
Simon O'Donnell went to Warrigal Private Hospital as soon as he got back:.
38.
Simon O'Donnell's captaincy was often criticised for being over generous in his declarations.
39.
Simon O'Donnell was selected in the Australian one day team that summer.
40.
Simon O'Donnell was dropped from the side after the first final.
41.
Simon O'Donnell played a game for the Rest of the World against Glamorgan and scored 66 off 23 balls.
42.
Simon O'Donnell kept his place in the Australian side for the one day tournament at the end of the summer.
43.
Simon O'Donnell toured with Australia on a trip to Sharjah.
44.
Simon O'Donnell was not selected but did win the International Cricketer of the Year Award despite playing no tests.
45.
Simon O'Donnell led Victoria to the Sheffield Shield when they defeated New South Wales in the final.
46.
Simon O'Donnell played for Victoria as a batsman only for a few games.
47.
Simon O'Donnell suffered a poor run of form, scoring 124 runs at an average of 12 with the bat, and only bowling gently medium pace.
48.
Simon O'Donnell was not picked for the final 14 man World Cup squad.
49.
Simon O'Donnell responded with a quickfire 87 against South Australia for Victoria.
50.
Australia struggled during the World Cup, failing to make the semi-finals, and Allan Border later wondered if omitting Simon O'Donnell was a mistake.
51.
Victoria struggled that summer and Simon O'Donnell's captaincy came under criticism for lack of imagination and aggression.
52.
Victoria did make the final of the domestic one day tournament that year but performed poorly in the Sheffield Shield and Simon O'Donnell began to seriously reconsider his future.