Joe Dawes

A ruggedly built right-arm fast bowler, Joe Dawes was an unfortunate victim of the extraordinary strength and depth of Queensland's pace bowling division and spent most of his early career watching Michael Kasprowicz, Andy Bichel and Adam Dale decimate the opposition. An injury to Kasprowicz and a Test return for Bichel gave Dawes a long-awaited opportunity to grasp a regular starting berth in 2001-02, which he did until struck down by a serious knee injury in 2005. Dawes played only one game for the Bulls in 2005-06, and finished his first-class career with 285 first-class wickets in 76 matches at 25.38. They are fine figures for a man who refused to give up and did his best work in his 30s. His strong, bullocking style netted him 49 first-class wickets in 2001-02 - he led the competition as Queensland claimed back-to-back titles - and he showed his consistency by grabbing 43 in 2002-03 and 46 in 2004-05.

Rewarded with part-time stints at Middlesex and the Marylebone Cricket Club, he was a useful fill-in and his status as a professional cricketer allowed him to move away from his roles as a plain-clothes policeman and media advisor. After his bowling career was over, he took up a coaching role with Queensland, and later became bowling coach of South Australia. In February 2012, he landed up a far more high-profile job, replacing Eric Simons as the bowling coach of India.
ESPNcricinfo staff