Nic Maddinson

Nic Maddinson is one of the most hard-hitting and feared batsmen Down Under. His exploits are not limited to the T20 format either, given that he brings his hard-hitting prowess into Shield cricket as well. He caught the eyes of the selectors in October 11, 2011 when he scored a hundred on debut for New South Wales. Since then, he has almost cemented his place in the side and has done very well at the top of the order. He has also represented Australia at the Under-19 level and was also part of the World Cup winning squad in 2010.

After consistently performing in the domestic circuit, he received a call-up from the national selectors for a T20I against India at Rajkot in 2013. He did not disappoint, and showed no signs of nerves, clubbing the Indian attack for 34 at a strike-rate of more than 200 while opening the innings.

Maddinson played for the Sydney Sixers and was a vital part of their side for a long time. During the 2014 IPL auctions, he was roped in by the Royal Challengers Bangalore and he played the first few games of the seventh edition of the tournament. However, lack of performances saw him make way for Chris Gayle who was injured for the initial games, and he was never sold in the subsequent editions of the tournament. Maddinson featured in the 2016 edition of the CPL playing for the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Back at home, Maddinson first moved to the Melbourne Stars in 2018/19 before moving again to the Melbourne Renegades in 2021/22.

After a string of excellent performances in the domestic circuit, Maddinson was given a go at the Test level, making his debut in the home series against South Africa during the Adelaide Test. In his three Test appearances thus far, he has failed to impress with a highest score of 22. He was eventually dropped from the Test setup. In 2017, he lost his contract with New South Wales due to poor performances, and his career had hit an all-time low, when he decided to move to Victoria.

He had a great start with Victoria in 2018, making his Shield debut against Queensland, and scoring a fluent 162. However, during the course of the game, he was struck on the arm by a bouncer, and his forearm bone snapped in two. Needless to say, he took a break from cricket to recover, and had a four-inch blade in his arm. He returned to competitive cricket, with the metal bar still in his arm, in February 2019, and scored a scratchy hundred in his first innings back. The 2019/20 season saw his stocks recover further after he was jointly awarded the Shield player of the year award for his 780 runs.

Written by Rishi Roy