Alan Turner

Who is Alan Turner?

Alan Turner is a former Australian cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman who played for New South Wales from 1968 until retirement in 1978. He scored over 5,700 runs as a stocky opener with a practised cut shot, though he was not able to prove his abilities at best at international level. He played in fourteen Test matches and six One Day Internationals from 1975 to 1977. On the back of his several good Sheffield Shield seasons he was selected for Australian tours of England and New Zealand. He scored a single Test century against the touring West Indian side in 1975–76. By a noted cricket writer Peter Hanlon, Turner was described as "an ordinary man in the company of Gods."

During the inaugural 1975 Cricket World Cup in a match against Sri Lanka, Turner became the first Australian to score a century in a One Day International. It was only the second ODI game Turner had played in. He scored 101 runs from 113 balls, all in the morning session prior to his dismissal, in a partnership of 178 with fellow opening bat Rick McCosker. His blistering innings included 9 fours and a six.

Prior to playing cricket, he worked for British American Tobacco, and following his retirement he became a national logistics manager of Benson & Hedges, which was a leading sponsor of Australian cricket for several years.