About John Dyson (Australian cricketer)
John Dyson (born 11 June 1954) is an Australian former international cricketer (batsman) who is now a cricket coach, most recently in charge of the West Indies. He played 30 Test matches and 29 One Day Internationals for Australia between 1977 and 1984. He did not enjoy as much success at the international level as he did at the first class level. In first-class matches, he scored nearly 10,000 runs at an average of 40. Dyson is probably best remembered for his "catch of the century" at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1982, when he caught Sylvester Clarke in the outfield, over his head, at a 45-degree angle to the ground, running backwards. Dyson participated in two "rebel tours" of South Africa in 1985–86 and 1986–87 in defiance of the international sporting boycott of the apartheid state, scoring over 1,000 runs. He played soccer as a goalkeeper in the Sutherland Shire (Cronulla RSL) and was a member of the side that won the Dallimore Competition and runners-up in the NSW Amateur Cup final. He was a team member of the Como West Junior Soccer Club (Sutherland Shire) successful 18A, 1971 Champion of Champion team, progressed to play in Sutherland and St. George Grade and was also selected in the N.S.W. U20 squad. On 21 October 2007 he was named as coach of the West Indies having previously coached Sri Lanka from 2003 to 2005. On 20 March 2009 he incorrectly called the West Indies in because of bad light after 46.2 overs of an ODI against England. His decision to do so was based on a faulty D/L calculation because of a fall of wicket on the second ball of the 47th over, thereby causing his team to lose a match it had a good chance of winning. He was sacked as the coach of the West Indies on 13 August 2009 shortly before the team was due to play in the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa. In January 2024, Dyson was inducted in the New South Wales hall of fame. This led to Dyson being selected to make his first class debut, for NSW against Qld.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.