Dirk Wellham

One of only two men to score hundreds on first-class and Test debut, Dirk Wellham was a gifted young player thrust into the national team at 22 after five first-class matches for New South Wales. Picked for two Ashes tours, he played the sixth Test of his first trip in 1981, Wisden describing him as "sturdy, pugnacious and well organised". In the second innings at The Oval he was camped on 99 for 25 minutes, including being dropped by Geoffrey Boycott, before becoming the first Australian since Harry Graham in 1893 to reach a century on debut in England. It would remain his highest score in a six-Test career that also ended against England when he made 17 and 1 at the SCG in 1986-87.

Wellham, an astute leader and sharp fieldsman, was the first person to captain three states - New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland - and won the Sheffield Shield with his home side in 1984-85 and 1985-86. A teacher by profession, he is currently a deputy headmaster at a Brisbane private school. Peter English