To have 11 fielders on the field Australia had to field their masseur and logistics coordinator Grant Baldwin.
Australia paceman Mitchell Starc, who limped off the field on Day 1 of the Adelaide Test, may not have required a massage on his injured foot, because it was the team masseur who replaced him at mid-off.
In extraordinary scenes at the Adelaide Oval on Friday night, massage therapist Grant Baldwin went on as a sub-fielder for Australia in the historic day-night Test match.
The decision to summon Baldwin and not one of the allocated sub-fielders from South Australian cricket was made by Test captain Steve Smith.
Baldwin, 28, was a talented Victorian second XI cricketer and was once registered for the AFL draft, but now travels the world with the Australian team, working as a masseur and logistics help for team manager Gavin Dovey.
It is not the first time that a player not included in the squad has fielded for the team.
Last year in an ODI against the West Indies, owing to injuries in the team, England had to call up their assistant coach and former captain Paul Collingwood as a substitute.
Sachin Tendulkar had also fielded for Pakistan against India at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium when he was 13-year-old.
In his autobiography, Playing It My Way, the legendary batsman has said, “I don’t know whether Imran Khan remembers this or has any idea that I once fielded for his Pakistan team.”
Recently, Mandeep Singh fielded for South Africa 'A' in a match against India 'A', to help out the South Africans who were debilitated with a bout of food poisoning.
Image: Australia's massage therapist Grant Baldwin fielding as 12th man during the first day of historic day-night Test in Adelaide.
Photograph: Cricket Australia
