Ashley Alexander Mallett (13 July 1945 – 29 October 2021)[1] was an Australian cricketer who played in 38 Tests and 9 One Day Internationals between 1968 and 1980.

[1][3][4] Mallett was a member of the Western Australian squad in the 1966–67 season, but made no appearances, only being 12th man in two Sheffield Shield matches.

[5] These strong performances in his debut season gained Mallett selection in the Australian team to tour England in 1968 under the captaincy of Bill Lawry.

He took 3/31 and 7/75 to set up a ten-wicket win and his victims included Hylton Ackerman, Mushtaq Mohammed and Peter Willey, Test players for South Africa, Pakistan and England respectively.

[5] Returning to state duty, Mallett took 2/30 and 6/69 in the next match against New South Wales, helping to set up a three-wicket win.

These efforts were not enough to win a recall to the Test team, and Mallett ended the season with 39 wickets at 23.15 as South Australia won the Sheffield Shield.

[5][6] On a dry, crumbling, turning pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, the hosts levelled the series.

[5] As Mallett sought to reclaim his Test spot at the start of the 1970–71 Australian season, he was in better form with the bat than the ball.

[5] After the Second Test, Mallett found form with the ball, taking 4/59 and 3/61 against England for South Australia, adding an unbeaten 42 with the bat.

Due to persistent rain, the match was abandoned and the inaugural one-day international was scheduled in its place at the MCG.

Mallett had not been in good form in this new format of cricket; in two matches earlier in the season, he had conceded 82 runs from his 10 overs, approximately twice the average of that era.

Despite his poor track record, Mallett took 3/34 from eight overs,[5] removing Edrich, Keith Fletcher and John Hampshire as England were dismissed for 190.

He scored 28 and totalled 0/63 as the match ended in a draw, leaving Australia needing a win in the final Test to retain the Ashes.

Mallett returned to South Australia as his state proceeded to the Sheffield Shield title, although he only took one wicket in the last two matches.

[5] Returning to the Shield competition, Mallett performed consistently, with 54 and 62 wickets at an average of 19 in the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons allowing him a Test recall.

In his earlier years, Mallett bowled with a high arm action, curving the ball away from the right-hander before breaking it inwards.

Keeping one end tight while Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee attacked the opposition with pace from the other, he only managed 32 wickets in his last 15 Tests.

[2] As the end of his career approached, he was plagued by arthritis, leading to a lower bowling action which curtailed his effectiveness.

[10] In tandem with Jenner, he was part of a successful era in South Australian cricket, playing in three Sheffield Shield winning sides in 1968–69, 1970–71 and 1975–76.