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Former Australia World Cup hero Lyn Fullston dies

The dual international Lyn Fullston, who represented Australia at cricket and netball, died in Adelaide on Sunday after a long battle with illness

Cricinfo staff
02-Jun-2008
The dual international Lyn Fullston, who represented Australia at cricket and netball, died in Adelaide on Sunday after a long battle with illness. Fullston, 52, played 12 Tests and 41 one-day internationals as a slow left-arm orthodox spinner.
Her international career, which began with the World Cup victory in 1982, finished six years later with another global triumph, and she was the most successful bowler at both tournaments. When she retired she was the only Australian woman to have taken 100 international wickets and she remains the leading wicket-taker in World Cup history.
Fullston was an exceptional all-round sportswoman who also represented Australia at netball and was a top-class tennis player. A late entrant to cricket in 1977, she first represented South Australia in 1979 and enjoyed a 15-year, 123-match career at first-class level.
She claimed 73 ODI and 41 Test wickets and twice took five wickets in an ODI innings. A handy lower-order batsman, Fullston averaged 31.67 in Test cricket with a top score of 41 not out against England in 1987.
"Lyn was a distinguished international cricketer and she was also an excellent ambassador for women's cricket and for women's sport in general, from a community level up to international representation," Creagh O'Connor, the Cricket Australia chairman, said. "It is tragic that she died far too early."
Known as Lefty, she played for Port Adelaide into her fifties and helped inspire and develop many young players. Last year, the women's grade league in South Australia named an award after her.