The latest of the late bloomers, Mick Lewis grew up in regional Victoria, never made a junior state side and the Academy doesn't rate even a line on his resume. "I came through a different path," he says. "At a younger age I wasn't really that good at cricket, to tell you the truth." In his 20s he moved to Melbourne, joined the Northcote club to play grade cricket and steadily moved up the ranks, making his first-class debut as a 25-year-old.

A fast, accurate and skidding bowler with an aggressive attitude, he collected five wickets in the first innings of the 2000-01 Pura Cup final in Brisbane and showed a high level of consistency by capturing more than 25 Pura Cup victims in each of the four seasons before 2006-07. The 2004-05 summer was his best at state level as he picked up 38 wickets at 22.05 to earn a Cricket Australia contract, and he spent parts of the winter in Durham, where he was occasionally mentioned as an Ashes prospect, and in Pakistan with Australia A.

Influenced heavily by the fast bowler Rodney Hogg, Lewis became a one-day international aged 31 - the oldest since the 38-year-old Bob Holland in 1984-85 - and made an instant impact with 3 for 56 against New Zealand. Respected as a death bowler in domestic games, he delivered a nerveless final over of the second Chappell-Hadlee Series match and sealed a two-run win and the trophy with a desperate run out. "I had to do what I know I can do - bowl full and straight and at the stumps." Such qualities didn't help him at Johannesburg in March 2006, when he was smeared for 113 runs in his ten overs - the most ever conceded in a one-day international. The performance and an overall economy rate of 6.87 in his seven games led to him losing his Cricket Australia contract. The 2006-07 domestic season was a frustrating one for Lewis, who missed time with a hip muscle injury and was eventually dropped due to poor form. He finished with 16 Pura Cup wickets at 37.62 and added only one limited-overs game in 2007-08 before announcing his retirement.
Cricinfo staff January 2008