Craig Cusbert

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 185 lb.

• Born June 5, 1974 in Sydney, New South Wales Australia

Biographical Information

Craig Cusbert pitched for the Australian national team.

He debuted in the Australian Baseball League in 1991-1992, allowing eight runs (all earned) in two innings for the Sydney Blues at age 17. In 1992-1993, he improved to 1-1, 1.76. For his hometown team in 1993-1994, he was 6-2 with 3 saves, a 3.27 ERA and .208 opponent average, the lone flaw being 34 walks in 52 1/3 IP. He was 4th in opponent average, between Brad Cornett and Simon Eissens.

That earned him a spot on Australia's squad for the 1994 Baseball World Cup. He debuted in their opener, relieving Andrew McNally in the 3rd of a slugfest 12-9 loss to Taiwan. He took the loss against Ching-Ching Huang, giving up 7 hits, a walk and four runs (all earned) in 2 2/3 IP; Shane Tonkin succeeded him. His other outing, he fared better, closing out a 12-7 loss to Nicaragua. Relieving Brett Cederblad, he allowed one hit, two walks and one run in 2 2/3 IP while fanning two as the Aussies' top hurler of the day.

The right-hander fell to 2-2, 4.59 in the 1994-1995 ABL with a .227 average allowed but 26 walks in 33 1/3 IP. He was 0-3 with a 9.58 ERA in 1995-1996 to end his career at age 22. He had a 9-8, 4.61 record with three saves in 48 ABL games (13 starts).

Sources

• Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac
• Defunct IBAF site