Ryan Campbell

Ryan John Campbell (born 7 February 1972) is an Australian former cricketer who represented both Australia and Hong Kong internationally.

He is the current head coach of Durham, on a contract covering the 2023 to 2025 seasons.

Campbell was born in Perth.

He later replaced Gilchrist as wicket-keeper following his elevation to the national team in the late 1990s.

Campbell was inducted into the Australian Cricket Academy in 1994, and made his first-class debut for an academy team in April 1995, playing against the New Zealand Cricket Academy.

He made his debut for Western Australia during the 1995–96 season, and initially played as a specialist batsman, with Adam Gilchrist keeping wicket.

His debut for Western Australia came in February 1996, during the 1995–96 season of the Mercantile Mutual Cup (the national one-day competition).

Campbell initially played as a specialist batsman, with Adam Gilchrist serving as wicket-keeper.

He did keep wicket on his Sheffield Shield debut (against Tasmania in November 1996), which came in Gilchrist's absence, but spent the remainder of the season as an opening batsman, partnering with Mike Hussey.

Campbell was one of only three WA players to appear in every Sheffield Shield match during the 1996–97 season, and finished with 672 runs, behind only Mike Hussey and Justin Langer amongst his teammates.

Against Victoria, he scored a maiden first-class century, making 113 runs from 106 balls.

He brought up his century in only 86 balls, making it the fastest hundred of the season.

Having first played for Australia A during the 1997–98 season, Campbell made his ODI debut in January 2002, against New Zealand.

His only other appearance at that level came in December of the same year, against Sri Lanka.

He was substituting for Gilchrist on both occasions.

During the 1997–98 Sheffield Shield season, Campbell was again among the leading batsmen for WA, scoring 726 runs from eleven matches.

He scored three centuries during the season, including 177 against New South Wales, and also kept wicket in four games while Adam Gilchrist was on national duty.

In August 1998, Campbell was selected for Australia A for the first time, touring Ireland and Scotland with the team.

Later in 1998, he also played for Australia A in a one-off day-night game against the senior Australian team, opening the batting with Michael Slater.

Campbell made further appearances for Australia A the following year, all in the one-day format, appearing in three games against the touring Sri Lankans and a five-game series against India A, which was played at the Woodley Cricket Field in Los Angeles.

Campbell made career-best scores in both the first-class and one-day formats during the 1999–00 season, both of which came against Queensland.

He made 203 from 222 balls in a Pura Milk Cup fixture at the WACA Ground, helping WA win by an innings and 257 runs, and later scored 108 runs from 85 balls in the final of the Mercantile Mutual Cup.

Campbell finished the 1999–00 Pura Milk Cup with 885 runs from ten matches, which was the most for WA and behind only Matthew Elliott and Darren Lehmann overall.

However, his output was much reduced the following season, as he struggled with a knee injury that eventually required surgery.

Campbell suffered from depression during his playing career, and in 2001 contemplated retiring early to focus on his health, eventually deciding to continue playing.

He is a supporter of Beyond Blue, an Australian mental health advocacy group.

In January 2002, Campbell was selected to play for Australia in an ODI against New Zealand, after Adam Gilchrist withdrew from the team to spend time with his newborn son.

He stumped Mark Richardson off the bowling of Shane Warne in New Zealand's innings, and later scored 38 runs from 52 balls opening the batting with Mark Waugh, eventually being dismissed by Daniel Vettori.

Campbell made his second and final ODI appearance for Australia in December of the same year, against Sri Lanka.

Campbell made his last appearances for Western Australia during the 2005–06 season, subsequently being replaced by Luke Ronchi.

After the conclusion of his domestic career in Australia, Campbell began working in the media, as a sports presenter on radio and cricket commentator on television.

In 2008, he played a single season with the Ahmedabad Rockets, a franchise in the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Campbell moved to Hong Kong in 2012, to play for and coach the Kowloon Cricket Club.

His brother in law is Andrew Heffernan, who competed in the equestrian events at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

In 2016, aged 43, he was included in the Hong Kong national team's squad for the 2016 World Twenty20 in India.

He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Hong Kong against Zimbabwe in the 2016 World Twenty20 on 8 March 2016.

At the age of 44 years and 30 days, he became the oldest player to debut in a T20I match.

Campbell was born in Osborne Park, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, and played WACA grade cricket for Bayswater-Morley, Scarborough, and Joondalup.

He has Hong Kong Chinese ancestry through his grandmother, with one of his great-grandfathers being born in Kowloon.

Campbell's wife and son were also born in Hong Kong.