Confident, aggressive and blessed with great ball-striking talent, Ryan Campbell was an explosive batsman and wicketkeeper. Although consistency eluded him at times, there were few players at Australian interstate level as destructive with the bat. Campbell was introduced to the Western Australian team as a wicketkeeping replacement for Adam Gilchrist, but quickly carved a niche for himself as a specialist batsman. With breezy shot-making, he seemed naturally suited to a role as a one-day opener, and he also filled that position in the four-day game, especially after he had registered both the fastest half-century and century in the course of an Australian first-class season in 1996-97.

Increasing international appearances for Gilchrist resulted in Campbell's return (on an intermittent basis, at least) to the keeping role, but it was his ability to set the side on flying starts for which he was best known. Among many belligerent innings for the Warriors, arguably the most noteworthy was a whirlwind 108 off only 85 balls that laid the foundation for his team's dramatic victory over Queensland in the 1999-2000 Mercantile Mutual Cup final. In the same season he posted his top score of 203 against Queensland before he endured a difficult 2000-01 following knee surgery, and reportedly considered an offer to move to Victoria.

He elected to stay in Perth and was rewarded with two one-day appearances for Australia in 2001-02 and 2002-03 as well as selection for Australia A. In the following seasons the development of Luke Ronchi kept him on his toes and he eventually made way for him on a full-time basis in January 2006. Campbell finished his career in ninth place on the Pura Cup-Sheffield Shield list of Western Australian run-scorers with 5421, and was fourth on the wicketkeeping dismissals table with 242. He later joined the Indian Cricket League before its third season in 2008-09.

At Nagpur in March 2016, and at the age of 44, Campbell made a remarkable return to international cricket, debuting for Hong Kong against Zimbabwe in the opening match of the World Twenty20. With a Chinese grandmother, and having settled in Hong Kong with his family, his T20I debut came 14 years after his last ODI appearance.