Mark Cleary's sharp pace catapulted him to Australia A selection in only his second first-class season, but since then he has struggled to maintain the high early standards and switched from South Australia to Victoria for the 2010-11 season. His move came after a season in which he played three Sheffield Shield games and six Twenty20s for the Redbacks. An aggressive allrounder, Cleary established himself on the state scene with 30 wickets in 2003-04 and he was picked to appear in two games against Zimbabwe. But the Australia A days were followed by some interruptions back at South Australia, where he had moved from Mildura a couple of years earlier. A back injury hampered him in 2004-05, when he added only eight Pura Cup wickets, and during the following off-season he nominated for the state transfer pool without receiving any interest. He backed up with seven dismissals in four games in 2005-06 as his lack of variety and the return of Jason Gillespie held him up. Despite a slow first-class campaign, he starred in the one-day arena and was crucial to South Australia's run to the final with an equal-competition-best collection of 16 wickets. There was also a spectacular maiden first-class century for Cleary, as he pounded 109 from 104 balls against Tasmania. In 2003 he attended the Academy and spent the next winter at Leicestershire, where he was part of the Twenty20-winning team in front of a full house at Edgbaston.
Cricinfo staff September 2010