Michael Di Venuto      

Michael Di Venuto shot into the Australian one-day team as an opener with his brutal stroke-play that was a precursor to Adam Gilchrist's dominance, but he couldn't sustain the devastation and was dropped in the same year he got promoted. Following his international days in 1997, which included two half-centuries, he continued to be a prolific and record-breaking player for Tasmania. Di Venuto saved his best two state seasons for his final campaigns. In 2006-07 he compiled his best collection in an Australian domestic season and his 961 Pura Cup runs at 53.38 put him third in the competition that summer. The highlight was finally being part of a state first-class triumph - Di Venuto was the only member of the winning team to have played in all three of Tasmania's lost deciders - and he contributed a handy 64 in the second innings. He was just as good in 2007-08, when his 947 runs at 52.61 came in a struggling team, and he left a big hole in the Tigers' batting department when he announced he was retiring to focus on his new three-year county deal with Durham.

Di Venuto made his state debut as a teenager in 1991-92 and played many outstanding top-order innings, but none was more impressive than his glorious 189 in the 1997-98 Sheffield Shield final. When he departed the Australian domestic scene he was Tasmania's leading one-day run-scorer, was second to Jamie Cox on the state's lists of Pura Cup-Sheffield Shield appearances and runs scored, and owned the most half-centuries in Pura Cup-Sheffield Shield history.

A fearsome player of the hook, pull and square cut, he is a dashing left-hander who has excited English fans during regular stints with Derbyshire and Durham. He played a leading role in Durham's County Championship triumph in 2009, feasting on bowlers across the country to score 1,601 runs at 80.05 - his six hundreds including a massive 254 not out against Sussex and 219 against Nottinghamshire. His returns in 2010 were a touch more modest, but he began the 2011 season in style with 86 and 112 in a match against Somerset. In 2012, he chose to play for Italy, the country of his origin, for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers.
Cricinfo staff February 2012