Gavin Byron Stevens (born 29 February 1932) is a former Australian cricketer who played in four Tests in the 1959–60 season. He played first-class cricket for South Australia from 1952–53 to 1958–59.
Stevens was born in Adelaide and educated there at St Peter’s College.[1]
A tall, strongly-built opening batsman, Stevens made his debut for South Australia in 1952–53.[2] He scored consistently in the Sheffield Shield in 1956–57, 1957–58, and in 1958–59, when he made 951 runs in the season at 59.43 with three centuries.[3] In December 1958, against New South Wales in Sydney, he made 57 and 259 not out.[4]
Stevens was selected for Australia’s tour to Pakistan and India in 1959–60 and played two Tests in each country with a top score of 28 against Pakistan in Karachi, before contracting a severe case of hepatitis. Although he recovered, he never played first-class cricket again.[5]
His older brother Bob was an amateur golfer who won the Australian Amateur in 1952.[6]
Stevens had a successful business career. A biography, Near Death on the Sub-Continent: The Gavin Stevens Story by David Jenkins, was published in 2012.[7] As of 2023 he lives in southern Queensland.[8]
References
- ^ “Gavin Stevens (WDK 1948)”. St Peter’s Old Collegians. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
- ^ The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket, Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 506.
- ^ “First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Gavin Stevens”. CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ^ “New South Wales v South Australia 1958–59”. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ^ “Gavin Stevens”. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ^ “Successful Brothers”. The West Australian. Vol. 69, no. 21006. Western Australia. 17 November 1953. p. 20. Retrieved 13 February 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ “The Gavin Stevens Story”. The Cricket Publishing Company. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
- ^ “Former Australian Test cricketer reminisces about Eisenhower visit”. Anglican Focus. Retrieved 11 June 2026.