After surviving a horrific car crash at the age of 16, Dougie Marillier was wheelchair-bound for three months, and it was feared he would never play cricket again. But he recovered to become an aggressive opening or middle-order batsman who favoured the leg side. He also showed outstanding improvisational skills in the one-day game, and gained great kudos in Zimbabwe in February 2001 by twice lapping low off-side full-tosses from Glenn McGrath over his shoulder for four in the final over of a Perth one-dayer when 14 were needed (Zimbabwe lost by one run). He repeated the shot with devastating effect in a famous one-day victory over India at Faridabad in 2001-02. An occasional offspinner who gets more bounce than turn, he made an unexpected mark as a bowler in the fourth ODI against England at Bulawayo in October 2001, when he came on at 95 for 0 and stopped the rot by singlehandedly removing the top four in the order. He was also known to keep wicket. Marillier quit Zimbabwe cricket at the end of March 2004, disillusioned and angry, like so many before him, and after trying his luck as a professional in England, he opted to concentrate on his family's real estate business. After a break of more than five years, Marillier returned to Zimbabwe cricket in early 2010, signing up for the Mashonaland Eagles franchise and, somewhat surprisingly, being named in a provisional squad for Zimbabwe's tour of the West Indies in March.
Martin Williamson and Liam Brickhill February 2010