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Shaun Tait’s shoulder-strong action slung him on to the 2005 Ashes tour, where he played two Tests ahead of his more celebrated South Australia team-mate Jason Gillespie, but it soon disrupted his quest for further international impact.

With a muscular and unrefined method that seems to invite pain, Tait returned from England buoyed by his promotion only to hurt himself in a grade match and the subsequent shoulder surgery forced him out for the rest of the year.

Despite the injuries — a back problem suffered in the nets ended his trip to South Africa and a hamstring complaint delayed his ODI entry — his old-fashioned approach of yorkers and bumpers mixed with a modern dose of sharp reverse-swing has excited followers who cross fingers Tait and Lee can be the 21st century’s version of Lillee and Thomson.

The Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year in 2003-04, Tait also picked up the ING Cup’s Best New Talent prize, chiefly for his 8 for 43 against Tasmania, the best figures in domestic limited-overs history. When Lee was injured Tait was taken as a development player on the Sri Lanka tour, where he introduced himself to the newly installed captain Ricky Ponting in the nets by hitting him in the head with a bouncer.

He later won a World Cup spot and proved Dennis Lillee’s belief he “has all the resources to stick the ball right up the noses of the batsmen”. A child of the Adelaide Hills, he received his best advice at the age of seven when his father suggested he play cricket.
Source:The News