Wisden overview
The measure of Paul Reiffel is that it was only when he was out of the Australian team that casual followers realised what was missing from it. Reiffel was unspectacular but effective, a cricketer's cricketer who bowled offcutters and awayswingers at a mean pace and on a mean line, as well as a correct and capable lower-order bat. At his retirement, he was one decent innings away from the 100-wicket/1000-run double in Tests, with an average of just over 26 in each discipline. He also took 100 one-day wickets while yielding fewer than four an over. Ever his own man, he quit after the 1999 World Cup despite being a contracted player; he knew his body could not go on. He led Victoria into the interstate finals in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. He surprisingly announced his retirement from first-class cricket in January 2002 and then took up umpiring. Greg Baum

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