Paul Reiffel was a nuggety character, the typical Australian who had the never-say-die spirit in whatever he did on the cricket field. Predominantly an effective seam bowler by design with the ability to deck the ball both ways off the pitch, Reiffel was priceless down the order with the bat, often stocking in with invaluable contributions especially in pressure situations. Pace was never his biggest strength although he did operate fair speeds of about 135kph on an average. The movement he generated off the surface made him a difficult customer to deal with, be it in Tests or ODIs. Throughout his seven-year career, he was a vital cog of the Australian attack due to his prowess. Like many fast bowlers, Reiffel too suffered injury setbacks quite a few times which meant that he didn't play as many games as he should have in
his prime.

Born in Victoria, Reiffel was a First-class legend with over 500 scalps to his name. Right from his domestic debut in 1987-88, he had been consistent which eventually landed him a national call up in 1992 across both formats. The initial years in Test cricket were a bit tough although the promise was always there in his bowling. In contrast, he took to ODI cricket swiftly and over the course of time, relished both formats equally well. He was part of two World Cup campaigns. While the 1996 edition saw Australia fall at the last hurdle in the final, they were victorious in 1999 to win their first title in 12 years. Reiffel announced his retirement after the glory and after a couple more years, quit
the sport altogether.

Reiffel's ability to cut the ball off the surface enabled him to adapt easily to different surfaces, particularly those of the sub-continent. He always prided himself in his batting lower down the order and constantly worked at it. While he often provided stiff resistance, it were during the last couple of years in his career that Reiffel managed more consistency, notching up a majority of his fifties during that period. After his stint as a player, he turned to umpiring and has been in the elite panel of the ICC as well. Quite similar to his playing days, he's been a no-nonsense person during his umpiring as well.