Michael Klinger

Currently playing for South Australia, Michael Klinger is a first-class cricketer who was born in Victoria. Klinger has already played for Victoria and the St. Kilda Cricket Club in Australia before joining his current team in 2008. He is a right-handed batsman for his team.

Getting selected to represent Victoria, Klinger made his first-class cricket debut in the 1998-99 season. Klinger was in midst of a controversy in 2000-01 when playing for Victoria, when captain Paul Reiffel declared the innings with Klinger on 99. This upset caused a drop in his first-class form and the team was forced to replace him with Lloyd Mash.

Klinger has played 72 first class matches and 85 List A matches till date. His batting average remains at 36.91 for first-class matches and 39.67 for List A matches. He has also played 26 Twenty20 matches with an average of 29.38.

In 2006-07, at the Pura Cup, Klinger got a fairly well start by clinching a century in early stages and following it up with another one. Klinger led the championship in total scoring runs for almost the entire season but finally ending up third from top. Once Brad Hodge was called up to play for the international squad, Klinger could gain his form and pace at the Pura Cup.

Starting in 2008-09, Klinger started batting at number 3 position with the South Australia team. His shift in the batting line-up saw an improvement in his form and he scored his first 150 runs stint against Victoria in his very first match. On November 11th, Klinger scored his maiden double-century and went on to score 255 at the same match. He has gained tremendous success in his form along with a century at the Gabba instead of his batting friendly, Adelaide Oval.

Klinger has been selected by the Kochi Tuskers Kerala to play for their side and perform well with the bat which he has done in the past consistently. Kochi Tuskers Kerala bought him at a price of $75000.

Till date, Klinger has grabbed 7 one-day centuries and posted his career-best of 133 runs from 128 balls on 11th December, 2008.

Career Highlights

He was awarded the State Cricketer of the Year award in 2009 and 2010.