Lionel Baker

Lionel Baker
Personal information
Full name Lionel Sionne Baker
Born 6 September 1984 (1984-09-06) (age 27)
Montserrat
Batting style Left-handed
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Role Bowler
International information
National side West Indies
Test debut (cap 271) 11 December 2008 v New Zealand
Last Test 14 May 2009 v England
ODI debut (cap 145) 12 November 2008 v Pakistan
Last ODI 26 June 2009 v India
ODI shirt no. 44
Domestic team information
Years Team
2004/05–present Leeward Islands
2006–present Montserrat
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 4 10 34 35
Runs scored 23 13 371 117
Batting average 11.50 6.50 10.60 11.70
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0
Top score 17 11* 37 18*
Balls bowled 660 426 4,772 1,553
Wickets 5 11 87 42
Bowling average 79.00 32.27 31.47 32.02
5 wickets in innings 0 0 3 1
10 wickets in match 0 n/a 1 n/a
Best bowling 2/39 3/47 8/31 5/33
Catches/stumpings 1/– 1/– 12/– 9/–
Source: CricketArchive, 3 June 2011

Lionel Sionne Baker (born 6 September 1984) is a West Indian cricketer who has played first-class cricket for the Leeward Islands. He is the first person from Montserrat to have represented the West Indies at Test cricket.

Contents

Personal life

Although he was born in Montserrat, Lionel Baker spent several years living in London and attended school there.[1]

Domestic career

Baker made his debut for the Leeward Islands in the 2004/05 season.[2]

In 2007 Baker, played for an English Village club side called Marston Green Cricket Club and broke their long standing batting record, scoring 207 against Aston Unity on the 27th August. Baker scored 819 runs, and took 27 wickets in this season.

In the 2008 English season, Baker represented Walmley in the Birmingham and District Premier League.[1] On 2 October 2008, Baker signed a two-year contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club to represent them from 2009. He has a British passport which allows him to play without counting as an overseas or Kolpak player. Leicestershire coach Tim Boon said "[Baker] came over and netted with us in the summer, and impressed us. He's very keen to play for Leicestershire".[1] A month later the deal fell through once Baker was selected for the West Indies team as he was no longer eligible to play as a local player, despite his British passport.[3]

Baker has represented Montserrat in the Stanford 20/20 since the 2006 season and was selected in the Stanford Superstars squad in 2008 to play against England, but did not play for them.[3][4]

International career

Baker represented the West Indies at U19 level, he finished his Youth One Day International career with 17 wickets from 8 matches at an average of 18.47 with best bowling figures of 6/39.[2] The figures of 6/39 earned Baker a man-of-the-match award and were taken against Sri Lanka U19s.[5]

On 1 November 2008, the ODI squad to tour Pakistan was announced, with Baker as one of the members.[6] On the same day, it was announced that he was one of four players – along with Brendan Nash, Leon Johnson, and Kemar Roach – without a Test cap to be named in the 15-man squad selected to tour New Zealand for a Test series.[6] He became the first player from Montserrat to represent the West Indies senior side at international level when he made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Pakistan on 12 November 2008.[7] His first wicket in international cricket was that of Salman Butt, bowled. He did not bat and after coming on to bowl first change, finished the match with bowling figures of 9-0-47-3, also claiming the scalps of Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi as the West Indies narrowly lost by four wickets.[8]

Baker made his Test debut on 11 December, playing against New Zealand.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Cricinfo staff (2 October 2008), Leicestershire sign Montserrat's Baker, Cricinfo.com, http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakvwi/content/story/372140.html  Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  2. ^ a b Lionel Baker, CricketArchive.com, http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/45/45899/45899.html  Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  3. ^ a b Cricinfo staff (10 November 2008), Leicestershire cancel Baker deal, Cricinfo.com, http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakvwi/content/story/377724.html  Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  4. ^ Stanford Superstars squad named, ECB.co.uk, 14 August 2008, http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/england/stanford/stanford-20-20-superstars-squad-announced,301889,EN.html  Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  5. ^ Wisden Cricinfo staff (22 February 2004), Baker bowls West Indies to victory, Cricinfo.com, http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakvwi/content/story/136983.html  Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  6. ^ a b Cricinfo staff (1 November 2008), Nash in West Indies Test squad, Cricinfo.com, http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakvwi/content/story/376405.html  Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  7. ^ Late Show Wins It For Pakistan In Abu Dhabi, Cricketworld.com, 12 November 2008, http://www.cricketworld.com/internationalcricketnews/article/?aid=18013  Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  8. ^ Jamie Alter (12 November 2008), Akmal and Malik script a thriller, Cricinfo.com, http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakvwi/content/current/story/377968.html  Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  9. ^ Tony Cozier (11 December 2008), Different backgrounds, common debut, Cricinfo.com, http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/nzvwi2008_09/content/current/story/381661.html  Retrieved on 19 February 2009.

External links