Another in a long line of fringe players to have been denied a significant opportunity at the domestic level because of the generally settled nature of his state's batting line-up, Andrew Dykes is a tall, right handed batsman and occasional medium pace bowler. A bank clerk by trade, he has been a high run scorer in grade and state second eleven cricket for many years, utilising his twin penchants for driving from the front foot through the off side and pulling and hooking the ball off the back foot to great effect. But, prior to the 1998-1999 season, he had been unable to convince selectors that he was yet worthy of a first-class place, and it was not until January 1999 that he was eventually able to make his debut. In the wake of the retirement of Tasmanian icon, David Boon, and in keeping with the increasing unavailabilty of Ricky Ponting as a result of international commitments, it then appeared that stylish centuries at either end of the 1999-2000 first-class season had finally afforded him his long awaited chance to genuinely establish himself. But disappointing returns during the 2000-01 summer saw him lose his place in Tasmania's first eleven and he now faces a significant challenge to again win back his state spurs. Dykes' grandfather was a Scottish soccer international and his father a noted Australian Rules Football player. (John Polack, July 2001)

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