Murray John Bennett (born 6 October 1956) is a former Australian cricketer who played in three Test matches and eight One Day Internationals in 1984 and 1985.
Bennett made a promising start to his career as a left arm orthodox spin bowler by making a successful foray into Sydney Grade Cricket for St. George in 1973–74 and was selected for the New South Wales combined schoolboy team.
[2] However, the bespectacled Bennett was unable to break through to first-class level until his Sheffield Shield debut in the 1982–83 season at the age of 26.
[1] In his debut match against Western Australia, he took 2/74 from 52 overs including 25 maidens, his victims being for Test players Craig Serjeant and Tony Mann.
[2] In the following match against Tasmania, he took 4/55 from 40.1 overs in another economical performance that featured 22 maidens, but was unable to prevent a seven-wicket defeat.
Bennett bowled economically, but was unable to take a wicket, conceding 50 runs from 29 overs as the Western Australians replied.
[2] Known for his accuracy and his well-disguised arm ball, he quickly formed an integral part of the bowling attack that made the state the dominant domestic team in the Sheffield Shield in the 1980s.
In the first match of the season against Western Australia, the opposition batsmen attacked him and he conceded 63 runs from his ten overs, scoring more than a third of their total from his bowling.
During the winter of 1984, Bennett travelled to England to play in the Lancashire League for Ramsbottom Cricket Club as their overseas professional.
[2] Despite his poor domestic form in one-dayers, Bennett was selected for the Australian team on a One Day tour to India in 1984, making his ODI debut in the fifth and final match of the series in Indore,[2][4] taking an economical 0/37 from his ten overs as the hosts made 5/235.
[2] He took 6/32 in the second innings, his best figures in first-class cricket, including the wickets of opener Desmond Haynes, Richards and captain Clive Lloyd to give NSW victory over the tourists by 72 runs.
The selectors brought Bennett into the team despite his lean form overall, because of his match-winning performance against the Caribbean tourists when they struggled against spin in the tour match.
For the fifth Test at the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground, Bennett retained despite his wicketless debut and pair selected for the first time in combination with his NSW spin bowling partner, Bob Holland.
[2][6] In the first match at Melbourne, he bowled an economical spell of 1/23 from his ten overs, his maiden ODI wicket being Gordon Greenidge.
[2][3] Bennett's effort was not enough to stop the West Indies from reaching their target of 241 with seven wickets and more than five overs in hand as they scored quickly from his colleagues.
[2][6] The series proceeded back to Sydney for the next match, but Bennett had no success on his home turf as the West Indies took 40 runs from his six overs and completed another five-wicket win.
[2] In the final, he took 2/54, removing Australian captain Allan Border and future international batsman Glenn Trimble, and then made 10 in the first innings as Queensland took a 56-run lead.
In the second innings, he removed Trimble and Test batsmen Greg Ritchie in his 4/32 as New South Wales dismissed their opponents for 163 to set up a target of 220.
In a tense finish, Bennett could only manage a solitary run before being dismissed, but New South Wales' last pair reached the target to seal the Shield.
[2] During June, Bennett was released from the squad to play for Church in the Lancashire League, and he took 11 wickets in two single-innings matches before rejoining the Test team.
[2] He only took 12 wickets in his next six county matches, but after taking 1/99 and 4/39 in the last of these games, which helped Australia to a seven-wicket over Kent,[2] he was called up for the final Test of his career at The Oval.
[2][3] Initially, Bennett accepted an offer to join the rebel tour to South Africa in 1985–86, who were banned from international sport because of their policies of apartheid.
Bennett made an unbeaten 55 in a rearguard fightback that took New South Wales to 286, before taking 4/47, helping his state to a 99-run first innings lead over Western Australia.
Although his lower-order batting still yielded 190 runs at 31.66, he was dropped in the latter stages of the season and missed New South Wales' victory in the Shield final.
Playing in only five of the Sheffield Shield matches because of his lack of productivity, Bennett took only four wickets at 43.50 and scored 33 runs at 5.50, and was dropped for the last time in January.