Gary Cosier

An aggressive middle order batsman from Victoria, Gary Cosier had a dream start to international cricket, notching up a fantastic century against a formidable West Indies attack at his home ground, the MCG. His only other three-figure score in Tests also came at the same venue, in the same season, against Pakistan. It was a fine start albeit in familiar home terrain but there was a lot of promise about Cosier's batting, his positive approach in particular. However, the same aggressive approach eventually became his undoing as he wasn't able to be judicious in shot selection, especially in crisis situations. He did notch a few more fifties but a big innings never came after his debut season.

Cosier's natural style of play made him more suited to limited-overs cricket although he barely played many ODIs either. In the 50-over format, he did showcase his dual abilities in a fine manner. While his aggressive hitting in the middle order was valuable, equally priceless were his wicket-taking abilities, as shown by his five-wicket haul against England at Edgbaston in 1977 although it came in a losing cause eventually. Apart from his temperament issues and shot selection malfunctions, fitness was a big problem for Cosier who was overweight pretty much throughout his career. His critics often took to him for this aspect and the man himself wasn't in denial either. However, a recurring spine problem meant that he couldn't hit the gym or take heavy weights.

Despite having made a fairly good start to his international career, Cosier wasn't considered for the World Series that had picked up many star players and an equal number of newbies as well. It clearly hurt Gary who didn't hide his displeasure at all regarding the matter. The only silver lining was that he got more opportunities with the national team but even that got pruned once the players returned from WSC. Of course, his waning form and fitness concerns didn't help his cause at all. Gary returned to domestic cricket and after a few games with Victoria, called it quits after the 1980-81 season. After retirement, he became a Victorian selector and also took to coaching. Cosier was also involved with sports management and managed the business of privileged UAE clients.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan