A bowling allrounder who will not back down from a contest, James Faulkner has also established a reputation as Australia's finisher with the bat in limited-overs chases. His cool head under pressure has won matches for Australia many times, and notably he was Man of the Match in the 2015 World Cup final triumph over New Zealand. On that occasion it was his bowling that earned him the honour, his 3 for 36 restricting New Zealand to a very gettable 183. His variations - slow balls and cutters especially - make him a dangerous bowler in the short forms and against Pakistan at the 2016 World T20 he became the first Australian to take a five-wicket haul in a T20 international. Faulkner made his Test debut in the dead rubber at The Oval on the 2013 Ashes tour and claimed six wickets, but has struggled to squeeze back into the side since then. Later that year he plundered his first ODI century - 116 off 73 balls - in a loss to India in Bangalore, in a game that will be more remembered for Rohit Sharma's 209. At domestic level, Faulkner was Tasmania's best player during a period of great success for the state. His breakout season in 2010-11 - he collected 36 Sheffield Shield wickets at 17.72 - coincided with the Tigers winning the Shield for the second time. The following two summers brought the consistent Faulkner wicket tallies of 36 and 39 and he helped the Tigers reach the Shield final in 2011-12 and win it in 2012-13 - he was Man of the Match in that final. His importance for Tasmania during those three seasons cannot be underestimated and in 2012-13 he won his third consecutive Ricky Ponting Medal as Tasmania's best player. Faulkner, whose father Peter also played for Tasmania, signed with his fourth IPL team - Gujarat Lions - for the 2016 season.
ESPNcricinfo staff