Know all about Australia’s latest spinner – Todd Murphy

Todd Murphy, an off-break bowler for Australia, was given his Baggy Green before the first day of the Nagpur Test, which saw the visitors field two off-spinners for the first time since 1988. The 22-year-old got his first international cricket chance as the management decided to back him. He had taken 29 wickets in seven first-class games with an average of 25.20. The young spinner wasn’t in contention. Travis Head would have played instead of him. Aussies decided to experiment with Murphy. It worked wonders as he took a five wicket-haul on Day 2.

First-class career

In 2021, he played his first first-class match for Victoria against South Australia. In 47 overs that he bowled, he only managed to take one wicket. Three years ago, Murphy competed for Australia in the ICC U-19 World Cup in South Africa. Although Australia did not win the trophy, Murphy was quite impressive as he took four wickets, with his best being 2/40. Murphy’s progress has been greatly influenced by veteran spinner Nathan Lyon. The senior Australian mentored him for a while even before he began playing first-class cricket.

Connection with Warne

Interestingly, Jamie Murphy, Todd’s father, played cricket as well. Though he was unsuccessful at the international level, he played alongside late Australia spin wizard Shane Warne in Melbourne. According to his childhood coach Craig Howard, the young spinner’s strength is bowling overspin. He can deceive batters in the air rather than off the wicket as there is not much turn available in Australia.

Notably, Murphy picked up eight wickets in six games while representing Sydney Sixers in the recently concluded Big Bash League. Though the red-ball contest is a different ball game altogether, the 22-year-old spinner has been in dazzling form. He has got the prized scalps of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and KL Rahul among others.