In his brief international career, Andrew Hilditch created havoc in terms of drama, both on and off the field. An opening batsman with a lot of poise and temperament, he had an irresistible urge for attacking the bouncer which more often than not led to his undoing. A strong personality with a lot of mental toughness, it was ironical that a man of such steely grit would fall away due to indiscretion in shot selection. Hilditch was a star in domestic cricket where he got appointed captain of his State team after a mere two First-class games. Such was the promise he showed which unfortunately never got fulfilled at the international level.

After his international debut in 1979, inconsistent performances that season saw him getting dropped and it was only after five years that he got a comeback, in 1984. Relentless performances year after year in the domestic circuit bore fruit for the New South Wales batsman who notched up both his Test centuries in his comeback year over three innings. It was a statement of sorts and the selectors expected it to be the stepping stone of greater things to come. However, as mentioned earlier, a strange weakness to the bouncer got exploited by bowlers across the globe with Hilditch continuously getting out in the process of hooking or pulling the ball.

The 1985 Ashes series was when this weakness of Hilditch got exposed brutally and opponents everywhere used the ploy with great success. The home summer of that year was Hilditch's last in Australian colors as he got dropped after the New Zealand series. Hilditch's ODI career was far shorter than his stint in the longer format of the game. Even after his international retirement, Hilditch continued to play First-class cricket and signed off by being the leading run scorer in his farewell season of 1991-92. After giving up cricket, he opted to get his focus back on law. Among the several wacky things he was part of, being dismissed handled the ball was atop the list. He was only the second player at the time to get out this way. Hilditch was an Australian selector in 1990s and in 2006, got appointed as chairman of the selection panel as well.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan