Raymond James Bright (born 13 July 1954) is a former Australian Test and One Day International cricketer from Victoria. He was a left arm spin bowler and right handed lower order batsman who captained Victoria for a number of seasons. He was also an Australian vice-captain.
Bright made his One Day International debut for Australia on the tour of New Zealand in the 1973/74 season. He also toured New Zealand in the 1976–77 season, and he then toured England in 1977, and made his Test debut in the Second Test at Old Trafford. Over the next decade he was a fixture in the Australian squad without ever holding down a regular place in the Test or One Day teams, playing in only twenty-five Tests and eleven One Day Internationals during his twelve-year international career. However he did play in fifteen Supertests for the Australian XI during World Series Cricket in 1977–78 and 1978–79, taking 42 wickets at an average of 29 against the West Indies and World XI.
Arguably his finest moment in international cricket came in the famous tied Test in Madras against India in 1986, when he took 5 for 94 in India's second innings. He also captained Australia in one match (a loss), his final One Day International appearance for his country, against Pakistan in April 1986.
Gideon Haigh once wrote that "for a time, Ray Bright was colloquially and rather meanly known for having made almost as many tours as he had played Tests." Bright was selected on a large number of Australian touring squads, including ones to New Zealand (1973–74, 1976–77, 1978, 1981–82 and 1985–86), England (1977, 1980 and 1981), the West Indies (1978–79), Pakistan (1979–80 and 1982–83), Sri Lanka (1980–81), Sharjah (1986) and India (1986–87).
A left-arm orthodox spin bowler and useful lower order right-handed batsman, Bright made his club debut for Footscray in 1969/70.
In December 1971 he was picked for Victoria against Western Australia. He was aged 17, the youngest player picked for the state since World War Two. However he was only 12th man.
He played for Victoria colts and toured Sri Lanka.
Bright found his way back into the Victorian team for the 1972–73 season. His first class debut was against NSW. He took 2–32 and 1–64 and made 67 as a nightwatchman.
Bright kept his place in the Victorian side for the rest of the season.
1973–74 season: Australian selection
Bright played well during the 1973–74 season. He took 6–61 and 1–27 against South Australia, 4–41 against WA, took part in a century partnership in a Victoria vs New Zealand game, took 5–75 against WA and 3–8 against SA.
9–55 against Queensland saw his name start to be mentioned as an international prospect. He ended up taking 32 wickets over the summer at an average of 19.6.
He was a "bolter" selection on the 1973–74 tour of New Zealand, replacing Terry Jenner as the third spin option after Ashley Mallett and Kerry O'Keefe. He was the youngest Australian sent abroad since the selectors sent Ian Craig and Ron Archer (18) to England in 1953,
Bright made his debut for Australia in a one-day game against Wellington taking 2–15. He only took one wicket in his first first-class game for Australia, against Canterbury. He took one wicket against Auckland but four against Northern Districts. He only took 8 first class wickets on the tour but had a healthy average of 21.87.
He also made his one-day international debut on tour, playing in the third ODI against New Zealand. Bright made 0–44.
Bright expected to spend the 1974 winter at home when he received a call from the Ramsbottom Club in the Lancashire League. Their current professional player, Wasim Raja, had been called up by Pakistan and they needed a replacement. Bright accepted the offer despite only having three weeks notice. His fee was £1,500 but he had to pay his air fare out of that, so he was forced to get a job as well. He worked a bleaching and dyeing factory.
Bright had little luck on his first weekend and says he "got abused by 500 workers" at this factory on Monday. He added, "You're obviously expected to bat in the top four, and if you don't get some runs or get some wickets, particularly if the side's not doing very well, the locals do tend to let you know very quickly that you've been the worst pro the club's ever had."
However his form improved. Bright said "What I found, probably because I've got very hard hands, early on I was tending to balloon a few to mid off or mid on, which a lot of Australians tend to do on soft wickets. It was a matter of adapting to different conditions and, quite often, the bowlers are a bit slower than what you're used to facing in first class cricket back home."