Alan Hurst

Who is Alan Hurst?

Alan George Hurst is a former Australian cricketer who played in twelve Tests and eight ODIs between 1975 and 1979. A muscular, broad-shouldered man with a shock of dark hair and a big moustache, Alan Hurst fit the archetype of Australian fast bowler, 1970s style.

In only his second first class season, Hurst played a single Test in Adelaide during a series against New Zealand where the selectors were "experimenting" heavily in anticipation of the Ashes series later in the year. He captured the wicket of the Kiwis’ star bat Glenn Turner, but wasn't selected to make the trip across the Tasman for the return series a few weeks later, despite a request from Australian skipper Ian Chappell that he do so. Chappell considered Hurst the fastest bowler in the country with Dennis Lillee sidelined by a severe back injury. The rise of Jeff Thomson during the Ashes series later in 1974 pushed Hurst further down the pecking order in the hunt for a baggy green cap. Hurst was still in the thoughts of the selectors and he was given a place on the 1975 tour to England that included the inaugural World Cup. Again, in the shadow of the Lillee-Thomson combination, Hurst didn’t play a Test or an ODI.