Callum James Ferguson (born 21 November 1984) is a former Australian cricketer and commentator who has represented Australia in all three forms of international cricket. He also represented South Australia in Australian domestic first-class cricket. He was formerly the captain of the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League before being released at the end of the 2020–21 season
Ferguson began his domestic career in the 2004–05 season, and by 2009 his form in limited overs cricket was good enough for him to be selected by the Australian national cricket team. Though his form in ODIs was strong, bolstering Australia's middle order, a knee injury in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy final took him out of competitive cricket for 11 months and he lost his place in the national side. He has played few ODIs since, and he played a single Test match in 2016 against South Africa, scoring 4 runs across his two innings.
Ferguson has played for South Australia for his entire domestic career, which spanned over fourteen seasons. When the Big Bash League was created he initially played for the Adelaide Strikers, but played for the Melbourne Renegades for three seasons after moving in the 2014–15 season and now plays for the Sydney Thunder. He also spent two seasons playing for Pune Warriors India in the Indian Premier League. In the 2019 BBL he scored 113*, the top score in BBL 2019.
During the 2020-21 Sheffield shield season Ferguson announced he was retiring from first class cricket. He said “Once I got left out of the first game of the year, it knocked a bit of the wind out of my sails”. He conceded that being dropped sped up his retirement.
On the 7th of February 2021, Ferguson was notified that he would not be offered a contract for the 2021-22 Big Bash season despite captaining the franchise for the last 2 seasons.
Following his retirement from cricket, Ferguson works as a commentator for Triple M, Seven and Nine Australia.
Early life Ferguson attended Blackfriars Priory School in Prospect, South Australia before moving to Marryatville High School in Year 9, where he completed his schooling. Ferguson started his cricket with the Prospect District Cricket Club before moving to the West Torrens Cricket Club in the 2005/06 season. He has since become captain of West Torrens DCC and had the Ferguson-George Cricket Academy for promising young players in the West Torrens zone named after him and Southern Redbacks teammate and fellow Australian Cricket Representative Peter George. In 2003 he was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Cricket Academy.
Early career
Youth career (2002–2004)
Ferguson played his first game for South Australia in their final game of the 2002–03 ING Cup, Australia's domestic one-day tournament, on 16 February 2003. He came in at number 9 and scored 3 runs. After captaining South Australia in the 2003 Commonwealth Bank Under-19 Championship Series, Ferguson was selected to in Australia's squad for the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He played three matches in the 2003–04 ING Cup, scoring a half-century against Victoria. During a warmup match two days before Australia's first match in the World Cup he faced the first knee injury of his career, leaving him unable to play any matches in the World Cup.
First-class debut and inconsistent form (2004–2008)
Ferguson made his first-class debut for South Australia on 16 October 2004 against Victoria at South Australia's home ground, the Adelaide Oval, with scores of 2 and 46. In just his second match, he top-scored for South Australia with 93 in the second innings against Queensland, almost taking the Redbacks to an unlikely victory. Ferguson scored a duck in a disastrous yet memorable innings for South Australia in which they were dismantled for a record low total of 29, mainly due to a devastating spell of 7/4 from Australian representative Nathan Bracken. He scored his maiden first-class century in the second innings of the match with a score of 103. He had a very strong debut season overall, top scoring for Redbacks with 733 runs at an average of 38.57 runs per wicket. He also scored 225 at an average of 28.12 in the one-day ING Cup.
Ferguson's second season also saw him produce solid results, as he scored 506 first-class runs at an average of 36.14 and was one of 15 players to be selected for the Australian Cricket Academy. He was less successful in one-day matches, only scoring 175 runs at an average of 21.87. He fell into poor form in the 2006–07 season, averaging under 30 in both first-class and one-day matches. This resulted in him being dropped from the South Australian side in December before being recalled in late February, when he scored a match-winning half century in a one-day match against Tasmania.
Ferguson's first opportunity of the 2007–08 season came in a Pura Cup match against New South Wales where he managed a first-innings score of 83, showing particular skill with the drive shot, and a second-innings score of 59. He scored his third first-class fifty in a row in Darren Lehmann's farewell match against Western Australia. For the 2008 winter, Ferguson went to northern England to play for Netherfield Cricket Club after being told by his state coaches that he needed to convert his starts into larger scores more often. During his time at the club he managed to score 1381 runs at an average of 106, including six fifties and six centuries.
ODI career
Early successes (2009)
In the early part of Ferguson's career he had been known for regularly failing to build on solid starts to his innings, but the 2008–09 season proved to be a breakout season for him. In a breakout performance against Western Australia he finally scored his maiden List A century with an 83-ball 101. He then scored two 50s against Tasmania and New South Wales. Ferguson scored totals of 81 and 115 in a Sheffield Shield match against Victoria, and five minutes after his second dismissal he learned that he would be brought into the national team's 13-man squad for the second and third ODIs against New Zealand due to the absence of captain Ricky Ponting and an injury to Shaun Marsh. He made his One Day International debut, his first match representing Australia, against New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 6 February 2009. He came in late in Australia's innings to score 6 not out off 6 balls. He also made his Twenty20 International debut against New Zealand, batting at number 3 and scoring 8 runs.
Within only a few matches for Australia, Ferguson started to build a reputation as the middle-order stabiliser. He scored his first ODI half-century against New Zealand at the Gabba with 55 not out while Australia faced top-order wobbles. After the New Zealand series Ferguson was included in Australia's squad for their series in South Africa. In the second match he scored another ODI half-century, resurrecting the Australian innings after they'd collapsed to 5 for 19, though his work wasn't enough to get Australia the win. In the third match he again had to try to rebuild Australia's innings, as they were 5 for 114 needing to reach target of 290. He scored a cool-headed 63 from 68 balls to give them a fighting chance, but again it was all in vain and Australia lost by 25 runs.
Though Ferguson was initially named in Australia's 30-man squad for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 he was cut from the final squad of 15. Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch described cutting Ferguson as "the hardest selection of them all," saying "He is a young kid who has taken all the opportunities that have come his way and done exceptionally well. He is desperately unlucky not to be in the squad." He was, however, given a Cricket Australia contract for the 2009–10 season. Ferguson remained in the ODI squad when he was included in the team for Australia's ODIs in England and Scotland at the end of the 2009 season. In this series he had the best ODI innings of his career, surviving through difficult bowling spells to score 71 not out at The Oval against England and being awarded the man of the match, with Australian captain Michael Clarke noting the "beauty" of his batting. He was one of the key players for Australia in the series win against England, scoring two half-centuries and twice being at the crease to seal run chases.
Champions Trophy, Injury and Return (2009–2011)
Ferguson was part of Australia's 2009 ICC Champions Trophy-winning squad in South Africa, which he described as the "hugest" event of his career so far. During the tournament's final against New Zealand, Ferguson injured his knee while fielding. He would have been prepared to bat in Australia's run chase if needed, though later tests revealed that he would require a knee reconstruction, taking out of competitive cricket for at least six months. Despite not being able to play for the rest of the season, Ferguson kept his contract with Australia. Ferguson came back from injury to be named in Australia's squad for their ODI series in India in October 2010, but persistent rain meant he was unable to play any matches and he was then left out of Australia's squad for the next ODI series against Sri Lanka until a back injury forced Shaun Marsh out of the team.
Ferguson made his first-class return from his injury in the 2010–11 Sheffield Shield season with a century in Brisbane, putting his name up to potentially play in the 2010–11 Ashes and earning a place in an Australia A squad for a tour match against England, but he didn't impress national selectors with scores of 7 and 10. Though he was included in a large 17-man squad for the first Ashes test, his poor form in the Australia A match meant he failed to earn his baggy green.
Ferguson was again added to the Australian ODI squad for the last two matches of the ODI series against England when Shaun Marsh had a hamstring injury, which led to his selection in Australia's 15-man squad for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He did not get to play a match and Australia were eliminated in the quarter-finals. His last chance came in Australia's ODI series in Bangladesh in April 2011. Ferguson came into the side in the second ODI to replace the out-of-form Cameron White but was not required to bat as Australia only lost one wicket in their innings. He played his final ODI in the third match of the series, scoring just 3 runs off 6 balls. He had not done enough to retain his spot in the squad for their tour of Sri Lanka in August 2011.
Post-ODI career
Ferguson signed up for the 2011 Indian Premier League player auction, where he was bought by the Pune Warriors India for $300,000, though he missed the start of the tournament as he was still with the Australian side in Bangladesh at the time. When he was able to play in the tournament he was still left out of the side for most of the matches, playing with relative ease when he did eventually get to play. He played five matches for the tournament and scored 48 runs, though he did so at less than a run a ball. He was kept on by Pune for the 2012 season, but he only managed to play 4 matches with the very low strike rate of 79.36 runs per 100 balls.
Since his brief ODI career, Ferguson has consistently performed well enough in domestic cricket to be in contention to play for Australia, but has struggled to actually break into the Australian side. He hit a match-winning century against Western Australia on 23 October 2011, battling to take South Australia from 8 for 170 to their target of 234 along with tailender Nathan Lyon. He remarkably top-scored for South Australia with 126 in spite of an innings loss to Western Australia in a Sheffield Shield loss, after which he scored an unbeaten 56 against the Warriors in a one-day win two days later. He was part of South Australia's Ryobi Cup-winning team, breaking a 25-year drought for the state. He was named as 12th man in the one-day team of the year.