Murray Goodwin

Murray Goodwin Biography

Murray Goodwin was on his way to become one of the greatest batsmen in the history of Zimbabwe. Indeed, with a 1,000-run cut-off, only Andy Flower and Dave Houghton have better averages among his countrymen than Goodwin’s 42.84. He also averaged 41.83, which made him one of two Zimbabweans to average above thirty overseas.

The roots of Goodwin’s exceptionally strong back-foot play were in his formative years in Perth. His tenure in English domestic cricket made him a good batsman to swing, while his ability to use his feet well against spinners added to him being a complete batsman.

Goodwin had innings of 70 and 73 in first two Tests, in Sri Lanka in 1997-98. He gritted it out in a windy Wellington, with 72. When Zimbabwe had to bat for declaration, he smashed 166 not out in 204 balls against Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, and Saqlain Mushtaq, before adding 53 and 81 in the next Test. In 6 Tests spanning over two months across three continents, Goodwin had scored 606 runs at 55.

There was no stopping him. When Zimbabwe beat India later that year he scored 42 and 44. When Zimbabwe needed 162 to win at Peshawar (against Wasim Akram, Waqar, Aaqib Javed, and Mushtaq Ahmed) Goodwin saw them home with 73 not out. He batted for five-and-a-half hours against Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, and Damien Fleming for his 91. He lit up Sabina Park with 113 against Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

Less than three months after that, in June 2000, Goodwin scored 148 not out against Darren Gough and Andy Caddick at Trent Bridge — in what turned out to be his last Test. He had another moment of glory in an ODI at Chester-le-Street that summer: set 288, Zimbabwe were reeling at 104 for 4 before Goodwin (112*) and Grant Flower saw them home against West Indies. He never played international cricket again, lasting a mere 30 months at the highest level.

Goodwin’s wife could not adjust to Zimbabwe, which meant that he had to return to Australia. He spent the rest of his career playing for Sussex in the English summer and for Western Australia in the Australian summer, and did a magnificent job for both.

When he scored 335* against Leicestershire in 2003 Goodwin broke Duleepsinhji’s 73-year-old record for the highest score for Sussex. Still not content, he improved on that with 344* against Somerset in
2009. He topped the County charts in 2008, and played a pivotal role in Sussex’s first three titles — in 2003, 2006, and 2007.

In all he scored 23,723 First-Class runs at 47, of which 14,572 came for Sussex, at 49. His stint with Western Australia was less productive. He also played for a couple of seasons for Glamorgan.

He is currently batting coach of Sussex.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Murray Goodwin Batting & Fielding Averages

Career

Avg

100s

50s

Test

ODIs

T20s

World Cup

Murray Goodwin Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
ODIs	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		--