Dan Christian

An allrounder who can bat in the top six and provide a valuable extra seam option, Daniel Christian became a global T20 gun-for-hire after spending most of his career in and around the Australia team without really earning a permanent place. He started at New South Wales, moved to South Australia and then shifted to Victoria ahead of the 2013-14 season.

He made his T20I debut for Australia in 2010 and went on to play in the 2012 and 2014 T20 World Cups, but didn't get a chance to bat in any of his four matches. He got a longer run in the ODI side, mostly in 2012, and took 5 for 31 against Sri Lanka in Melbourne. He made a comeback in 2021, playing seven T20Is and one ODI, but didn't have much impact.

Outside international cricket, Christian played for T20s for 19 different teams all over the world, making 14 finals and winning a staggering nine titles. He was Player of the Match in finals twice, for scoring 38 and taking 2 for 33 in Melbourne Renegades' maiden BBL win, in 2019, and for his 4 for 23 in Nottinghamshire's Blast win a year later.

At his best, Christian offers the complete package of clean hitting with the bat, a wicket-taking knack with the ball and sharp work in the field. He was called into Australia's Test squad during the home series against India in 2011-12 but was not given a baggy green. The previous summer he had been South Australia's leading run scorer and second highest wicket-taker in the one-day Ryobi Cup, and he also filled in as the state's captain. His second move, to Victoria, came after a 2012-13 season in which he was suspended by South Australia after three outbursts in which he damaged change-rooms following his dismissals.

He announced his retirement from the game at the end of the 2022-23 BBL, but made a brief return in 2025 to play for the injury-hit Sydney Thunder side for whom he was working as an assistant coach.

Christian is also notable as one of the few players of Aboriginal heritage to reach the elite level. A graduate of Cricket Australia's indigenous cricket programme and captain of the national indigenous development squad during a tour of England in 2009, Christian is from the Wiradjuri tribe in New South Wales. He also captained Australia's Aboriginal XI on the 2018 tour of England to commemorate 150 years since the first indigenous Australian team toured the UK.