Jackson Bird

For the author and vlogger, see Jackson Bird (author).

Jackson Munro Bird (born 11 December 1986) is an Australian international cricketer. He has played for Australia in the past and currently plays first-class cricket for New South Wales. Bird is a fast-medium bowler. He is originally from Sydney and was educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview and St Pius X College, Chatswood. Bird left the Manly club to further his career with the Tasmanian Tigers in the 2011–2012 season.

Jackson Bird

Personal information
Full name	Jackson Munro Bird
Born	(1986-12-11) 11 December 1986 Sydney, New South Wales
Nickname	Squid
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Australia (2012–2017)
Test debut (cap 431)	26 December 2012 v Sri Lanka
Last Test	26 December 2017 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2011/12–2022/23	Tasmania
2011/12–2014/15	Melbourne Stars
2015	Hampshire
2015/16–2017/18	Sydney Sixers
2016	Nottinghamshire
2018/19	Melbourne Stars
2019/20–present	Sydney Sixers
2022	Kent
2023/24–	New South Wales
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA T20 Matches 9 123 48 90 Runs scored 43 1,629 185 102 Batting average 14.33 12.06 13.21 10.20 100s/50s 0/0 0/4 0/0 0/0 Top score 19* 64 28* 14* Balls bowled 1,934 24,751 2,602 1,791 Wickets 34 481 59 82 Bowling average 30.64 25.21 34.40 27.59 5 wickets in innings 1 18 1 0 10 wickets in match 0 5 0 0 Best bowling 5/59 7/18 6/25 4/31 Catches/stumpings 2/– 65/– 20/– 35/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 30 December 2022

Early career

In March 2012, Bird took a hat-trick against Western Australia at the Bellerive Oval. He finished with match figures of 11/95 and helped Tasmania to a spot in the Sheffield Shield final.

Domestic career

After 10 Sheffield Shield matches, Bird had taken 62 wickets. These came at an average of 17.30 and a strike rate of 36.1 – which was the best in the competition's 120-year history at that point.

Bird does not bowl express pace but his ability to swing the ball both ways has proven very successful in domestic cricket. He plays in the Big Bash League for the Sydney Sixers.

In March 2018, Cricket Australia named Bird in their Sheffield Shield team of the year.

International career

Bird was picked in the Australian Test Squad prior to the 2012 Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka at the MCG, while Mitchell Starc was rested. Prior to the commencement of the Test, Bird was presented with a Baggy green, making him the 431st person to play Test Cricket for Australia. Opening the bowling, he took the first wicket of the game removing Dimuth Karunaratne with his tenth delivery and took a total of two wickets in the first innings. Bird took two wickets in the first session of Sri Lanka's second innings. In the following test in Sydney, Bird was named man of the match after taking 7 wickets across two innings. Bird was picked in the Australian One Day squad for the first time on 19 January prior to the match against Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

In January 2017, Bird played as a substitute fielder in the third Test against Pakistan and took four catches during the match, two in each of Pakistan's innings. This equalled Younis Khan's record of four catches as a substitute fielder in a Test.