12 Facts about Merv Hughes - The Big Moustached Aussie Pacer

12 Facts about Merv Hughes – The Big Moustached Aussie Pacer: Merv Hughes, the former Australian fast bowler, who was more known for his aggressive charm on the field, was equally popular for his big moustache. Hughes played 53 Tests and took 212 wickets in his career. He featured in 33 ODIs and scalped 38 wickets in the limited overs format. Here are some of the amazing facts about this Victoria-born cricketer:

1. Early life:

Merv Hughes was born on 23 November 1961 in Victoria. When he was in 5th grade, his first passion was football and he insisted his father, to let him join a football club. As a teenager, he worked in a clothing factory and later on worked as a salesman in a toy store to earn a living. Hughes started his career in cricket with Footscray in 197. Footscray now has its home ground named after him; it is now known as the Mervyn G. Hughes Oval. He was selected for Victoria in 1981–82 and made his debut against South Australia.

2. Popular nicknames:

Merv Hughes was always among the crowd favourites. The crowds absolutely loved his antics on the field and imitated his warm up during the game. The crowds chanted the name “Sumo” whenever he would be set to bowl. Among his teammates, he was popularly known as the “fruit-fly”; many wondered why until Allan Border justified the nickname saying Hughes was the greatest National Pest.

3. Personal life:

Merv Hughes, as his big physique would indicate, was a food lover and consumed lot of alcohol. This certainly did not do the best to his career and it can be said that his overweight actually shortened his career span as a cricketer. A few days before his debut in 1985-86, he is said to have been involved in binge-drinking session too!

4. Weight-loss effort:

Merv Hughes’ s weight earned him a chance to participate in both seasons of Channel Nine’s Celebrity Overhaul to lose weight and improve his fitness. Considering weight wise performances, he was the top performer in the first season of the show.

5. Career:

Despite being a big burly 6’4” fast bowler, Hughes could not make it big in limited overs cricket. He made his debut against India in 1985-86 and ended with figures of 1/123 in that match. He was dropped after the game and played his second game a year later in the Ashes. He took 7 five-wicket hauls in his Test career with the best of 8/87 against the West Indies. He was quite handy with the bat and scored two half-centuries in his career with a best of 72. He made his ODI debut against Pakistan in 1988. Hughes played his last Test in Cape Town against South Africa in 1994.

6. After career:

After his international career, Merv Hughes joined the Canberra Comets in the domestic league but had a horrifying outing as he could manage 5 wickets in 6 matches.

7. The big hat-trick:

Merv Hughes has a unique distinction of taking a hat-trick spread across three overs and two innings! At the WACA, Perth in 1988-89, he completed a hat-trick spread across three separate overs, two innings, and two different days. He got rid of Curtly Ambrose caught behind with the last ball of his over and ended West Indies’ first innings in his next over, by removing Patrick Patterson on the very first ball; and then in the second innings after more than a day, completed his hat-trick by trapping Gordon Greenidge lbw on the first ball of West Indies’ second innings.

8. The memorable Ashes:

Merv Hughes recovered from a pounding at the hands of Ian Botham in 1986 to take 19 wickets in 1989 Ashes, including a wily slower ball to deceive Chris Broad at Headingley, 15 wickets in 1990-91, but his best came in 1993 where he scalped 31 wickets. In total, he took 75 Ashes wickets at 30.25.

9. As a selector:

In June 2005, Merv Hughes replaced Allan Border as the Chief Selector of the national side. Merv Hughes was largely criticized for the dismal performance that the Australian side put up in the 2005 Ashes. It was under his selection reign, that Australia lost its number one spot in the Test rankings.

10. Love for football:

His love for football was evident since his childhood. He is a diehard fan of the club Tottenham Hotspur. In an interview for “Hotspur” magazine, Merv Hughes revealed why he loved the club so much. He quoted, “I went to a mate’s house to watch the FA Cup Final, everyone in the house was supporting the other team except the guy I sat next to. He was English, and I told him I was with him 100 per cent. Spurs won and I’ve supported them ever since.” Hughes also played Australian rules football during the winter in the late 1970s and early 1980s; at his peak, he was a key position player for the Werribee Football Club in the Victorian Football Association first division. He is a prominent supporter of the Western Bulldogs Australian Football League team.

11. The sledge-master:

Merv Hughes is popular for the sledging that he was always involved in. Well, that is something all Australians are good at; but Hughes was perhaps one of the best at this art, if not the best. His best came up against Graham Gooch and Graeme Hick in the Ashes. He sledged Hick quoting “Mate if you just turn the bat over you’ll find the instructions on the other side”.

Also Read – Top 10 Greatest Sledging Incidents in Cricket History

12. His popular moustache:

More than anything else, Hughes was popular for his big moustache. The popularity was such that it was rumored that he has insured it for £200,000 which later on he claimed to be a false hoax. He was also offered 25,000 pounds to shave off his moustache; an offer that he clearly declined.