Full name : Bradley James Haddin
Born : October 23, 1977, Cowra, New South Wales
Current age : 31 years
Major teams : Australia, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales
Nickname : BJ
Playing role : Wicketkeeper batsman
Batting style : Right-hand bat
Fielding position : Wicketkeeper
Height : 1.80 m
Profile
Brad Haddin displayed impressive courage during his opening Test series in the West Indies when he played through the pain of a broken finger and by the end of his first year was one of the national team's most important assets. He was indispensable, shuffling around the one-day order, proving himself as a productive Test run-maker and slowly improving on his glovework. There were even a couple of Twenty20 captaincy engagements when Ponting, Clarke and Hussey were rested. The only serious break Haddin got in that time was to his finger.
Having waited seven years for an opening after gaining one-day international status in 2001, he was not going to return the chance to stamp himself as Adam Gilchrist's long-term replacement. The fracture to his right ring finger occurred in his debut Test, but he played through the final two games despite being in further discomfort when an infection developed. He eventually succumbed during the one-day series and went home with 16 Test catches and 151 runs at 30.20, including a confident double of 33 and 45 not out in the third contest.
Life in India was tougher and the flaws in his keeping were on show, but when he started contributing with the bat he was able to relax and both aspects of his game improved. The breakthrough occurred against New Zealand in Adelaide, where he passed 50 for the first time in Tests and went on to 169, showing flashes Gilchrist would have accepted. A hundred was narrowly missed at the WACA when he was fighting with the tail and there was only one single-figure score in six Tests against the Proteas. Memorable dismissals are harder to recall, but New Zealand supporters find it hard to forget the glove-assisted bowled of Neil Broom in a one-day game. By the end of that series Haddin had scored his first ODI century and was in charge of the Twenty20 outfit.
It was a satisfying elevation after holding the most nerve-fraying position in Australian cricket. Once he had seen off the highly rated contenders of Darren Berry, Wade Seccombe and Ryan Campbell, he was the wicketkeeper-in-waiting and was entrusted with warming the seat whenever Gilchrist needed a rest. There were no costly slips and when Gilchrist left Haddin was handed the gloves at the first opportunity. The pressure of being No. 2 did not hinder his batting and his keeping to a New South Wales attack swinging from Brett Lee to Stuart MacGill remained sharp.
In 2004-05 he scored 916 first-class runs at 57.25 while leading the Blues to a one-wicket Pura Cup victory over Queensland and he also posted a limited-overs century for Australia A against Pakistan. A regular leader of Australia's 2nd XI, Haddin backed up in 2005-06 with 617 Pura Cup runs at 51.41 and added another 669 at 55.75 the following year. In 2007-08, which was interrupted by national tours to India and a series of one-day appointments, he kept his average above 50 while scoring three hundreds in seven first-class games.
Haddin was a tourist for the 2005 Ashes but was used only once as a one-day Supersub and finished the game without having a hit. A former Australia Under-19 captain who grew up in Gundagai, he began his domestic career in 1997-98 with the Australian Capital Territory in their debut Mercantile Mutual Cup season, and two years later was playing for New South Wales.
