An allrounder who combined brisk medium-pace with aggressive and versatile batting, James Hopes was the most prolific wicket taker in the Sheffield Shield in the decade up to his retirement in 2015-16. A bowler of Scrooge-like thrift, he gave batsmen precious few scoring opportunities, and his accuracy and ability to shape the ball meant he was always a threat. He could bat anywhere in the order but No.6 to 7 was most typical, and he was constantly chipping in with fifties or better. Never one to seek the spotlight, Hopes was nonetheless a fine leader and captained Queensland to the Sheffield Shield title in 2011-12, and back-to-back one-day triumphs in 2012-13 and 2013-14. A hard-worker who was always loyal to his home state, he never played first-class cricket for anyone but Queensland and Australia A. Hopes never quite made it to Test cricket but played 84 ODIs and 12 T20s for Australia, and at his peak was in the top 10 of the ICC's one-day international bowling rankings. But Hopes was often viewed, unfairly, as expendable in the ODI set-up, and was left out of both the 2007 and 2011 World Cup squads. He spent the remainder of his career piling up wickets in state cricket, and broke the record for most wickets in Australia's one-day domestic competition, with 155 at 27.32.
Brydon Coverdale