Darren Stevens (cricketer)

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Darren Stevens
England
Personal information
Full name Darren Ian Stevens
Born 30 April 1976 (1976-04-30) (age 32)
Leicester, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Role Batting all-rounder
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Domestic team information
Years Team
2005 – present Kent (squad no. 3)
1997 – 2004 Leicestershire
First-class debut 18 April 1997: Leicestershire v Cambridge UCCE
List A debut 3 August 1997: Leicestershire v Essex
Career statistics
FC LA T20
Matches 127 180 41
Runs scored 6372 4423 652
Batting average 32.67 28.35 19.75
100s/50s 12/37 3/29 0/1
Top score 208 133 69
Balls bowled 4199 1565 156
Wickets 58 40 9
Bowling average 37.63 31.55 19.66
5 wickets in innings 0 1 0
10 wickets in match 0 n/a n/a
Best bowling 4/36 5/32 4/14
Catches/stumpings 102/- 71/- 12/-

As of 5 April 2008
Source: Cricinfo

Darren Ian Stevens (born April 30, 1976 in Leicester) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler.[1]

Stevens made his debut for his home county of Leicestershire in 1997. His first century came in his fourth match, two years later against Sussex.[2] This innings earned him a seal of approval (as well as a painting) from Colin Cowdrey.[1][3] He remained, however, on the fringes of the side with Aftab Habib and Ben Smith being preferred in the Leicestershire middle-order. After a strong season in 2002, when he scored 850 runs at an average of 32.69, he was called up to England's Academy squad in Australia[4] and was included in their 30-man squad for the 2003 Cricket World Cup.[5]

After two average seasons for Leicestershire, Stevens was released and joined Kent for the 2005 season.[6] He made a very good start to his Kent career, scoring over 1,000 runs in a season for the first time in his career.[1] 2006 proved to be disappointing by comparison, yet he still averaged 39. His performances in the Pro40 League, however, brought Kent to the verge of promotion.

His highest first-class innings is 208, which he achieved while playing for Kent against Glamorgan in 2005.[3] His best bowling analysis is 4 for 36, against Yorkshire in 2006.[3] He won Kent's Player of the Year award in 2005.[3][7]

In 2007 Darren helped the Kent Spitfires win the Twenty20 Cup, scoring an unbeaten 30 including the winning runs, against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston.[8] However a week later he injured a groin muscle whilst top-scoring in Kent's victory over Durham[9] and did not bowl for the rest of the season.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Cricinfo. Darren Stevens player profile. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  2. ^ CricketArchive. Sussex v Leicestershire in 1999. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  3. ^ a b c d (2007) The Cricketer's Who's Who. Green Umbrella Publishing, pp 598-599. ISBN 9781905828265. 
  4. ^ Cricinfo (2002-09-10). Stevens named in final Academy squad. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  5. ^ Cricinfo (2002-12-07). England name initial 30-man World Cup squad. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  6. ^ Cricinfo (2004-11-03). Darren Stevens signs for Kent. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  7. ^ (2006) Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2006. Kent County Cricket Club. 
  8. ^ Cricinfo (2007-08-04). Kent take Twenty20 in thrilling final. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
  9. ^ BBC Sport (2007-08-12). Stevens haul earns Kent victory. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.

[edit] External links