| Malcolm Dolman | |
| Country: | Australia |
| Fullname: | Malcolm Charles Dolman |
| Birth Date: | 14 June 1960 |
| Birth Place: | North Adelaide, South Australia |
| Batting: | Left-handed |
| Bowling: | Slow left-arm wrist-spin |
| Role: | Bowler |
| Club1: | South Australia |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 6 |
| Runs1: | 6 |
| Bat Avg1: | 3.00 |
| 100S/50S1: | 0/0 |
| Top Score1: | 6 |
| Deliveries1: | 1,093 |
| Wickets1: | 14 |
| Bowl Avg1: | 40.28 |
| Fivefor1: | 0 |
| Tenfor1: | 0 |
| Best Bowling1: | 4/114 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 0/– |
| Date: | 18 March |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Source: | https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/malcolm-dolman-5014 ESPNcricinfo |
Malcolm Charles Dolman (born 14 June 1960) is an Australian former cricketer.
Born in North Adelaide, South Australia, Dolman started bowling slow left-arm wrist-spin at primary school and was first noticed as a promising bowler aged 14.[1] He began appearing in representative schoolboy sides and made the Australian Young Cricketers team to England in 1977, playing two unofficial One Day Internationals against England Young Cricketers,[2] and an Australian U/19s tour to Sri Lanka, playing in an unofficial Test match.[3]
Coached by former Test spinner Rex Sellers,[1] Dolman also showed great promise in Adelaide Grade cricket and played colts matches for South Australia,[2] although he was kept from first-class cricket for two years to mature him.[1] This just intensified support for Dolman, who was being called "possibly the most innovative bowler in Australian cricket for a decade"[1] and had former Test player Jack Fingleton calling for his inclusion in the national side before his first-class debut.[4]
After returning from the Interstate Under 23 Cricket Carnival in December 1981, where he was considered one of the leading players,[5] Dolman finally made his first-class debut for South Australia on 8 January 1982 against Queensland at the Adelaide Oval, taking 4/114 (his best bowling figures) and 2/47.[6]
Following his successful first-class debut, Dolman was awarded an Esso Australian Cricket Scholarship for the 1982 English cricket season,[7] where he played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club's Second XI in the Second XI Championship, playing six matches and taking 39 wickets at 14.90, with a best return of 7/38 against Leicestershire Second XI, and scoring 174 runs at 29.00, with a highest score of 82 against Leicestershire.[8] The former Australian Test spinner Ashley Mallett called him the most exciting spin prospect he had ever seen[9] and English cricket writer David Frith was also enthusiastic about Dolman's cricketing future.[9] Nevertheless, Dolman's second season of first-class cricket proved to be his last, consisting of only a single match against the touring English side on 31 October 1982, when he took 2/72.[10]
Dolman coached Adelaide University to an A-grade district premiership[11] before retiring from cricket to concentrate on his career, initially as a teacher before switching to consulting not-for-profit organisations on developing sponsorship and fundraising programs and coordinating high-profile community programs.[11]