Sam Robson

Sam David Robson (1989–) is an Australian/English first-class cricketer, who plays for Middlesex County Cricket Club.^[1] He is a right-handed batsman, and occasional legbreak bowler. Born to an Australian father and English mother, Robson played U-19 cricket for Australia but qualified for England in August 2013. In 2012 he became the first batsman to score a first-class hundred in England in the month of March and as of 16 August 2013 (2013-08-16) he was the leading run-scorer in the 2013 County Championship with 933 runs at an average of 62.06.

Career

Born 1 July 1989 in Paddington, New South Wales, Robson was educated at Marist College Pagewood^[2] before moving to Marcellin College Randwick in year 10,^[3][4][5] playing in the school's 1st XI. His Australian father, Jim Robson, played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club against Ireland in 1979^[6] and now works at the Sydney Cricket Ground.^[7] Sam's younger brother Angus plays for Leicestershire.^[8]

Robson played cricket for New South Wales Under-17s, New South Wales Under-19s, the Australia Under-19 cricket team, the University of New South Wales, and Eastern Suburbs.^[2][9] He left Sydney after school as he was stuck behind Usman Khawaja, his schoolmate^[10] Phillip Hughes, and others in the NSW pecking order.^[11] He started to play for the Middlesex 2nd XI in 2008, and played his first List A match for Middlesex against Worcestershire in the NatWest Pro40 League on 14 September 2008.^[12] He played Grade cricket in Sydney in 2008-9.^[1]

Robson made his first-class debut in June 2009, scoring 43 and 23 for Middlesex against Essex County Cricket Club at Chelmsford.^[13] He is a "wiry Australian who loves the circuit" and, according to Cricinfo's Mark Pennell, "With an English mother and a UK passport to his name, he looks to be a decent find."^[9] In his debut season of 2009, he recorded his maiden first-class century, opening the batting against Essex at Lord's in August.^[10] He was eventually out for 110^[14]

On 31 March 2012, on the first day of a three-day match against Durham MCC University, Robson made cricket history by becoming the first batsman to score a first-class hundred in England in the month of March.^[15][16] Six other batsmen emulated this feat later the same day, Greg Smith, James Foster, and Graham Napier for Essex against Cambridge MCCU (Napier off only 48 balls),^[17] Mark Wallace for Glamorgan against Oxford MCCU (the only first-class century scored in Wales in the month of March),^[18] Zac Elkin for Cardiff MCCU against Somerset (the earliest first-class century scored against a county team in England),^[19] and Rory Burns for Surrey against Leeds/Bradford MCCU.^[20]

International qualification

Robson has British and Australian nationality but played for Australia in nine Under-19 ODIs against Pakistan in April and October 2007.^[21] He was expected to qualify for England by residency in the summer of 2014^[10] but achieved it unexpectedly early, in August 2013.^[7] In order to play for Middlesex on his British passport he signed a document stating his desire and intention to play for and qualify for England^[11] but as of 2013 has not committed to either Australia or England at senior level.^[22] His captain at Middlesex, fellow Aussie Chris Rogers, has said that Robson considered a return to Australia but "I think his future is in England",^[22] whilst the Middlesex director of cricket Angus Fraser said in August 2013 "I'm pretty sure that it'll be playing for England".^[11] Robson has expressed a clear commitment to Middlesex as he views the County Championship as the best tournament for his development as a cricketer,^[7] but under current rules as a dual national he would be treated as an Australian player if he played for an Australian state side and thus would be treated as an overseas player at Middlesex. Cricket Australia changed their rules in August 2013 to allow dual nationals to be treated as overseas players in Australia, so that he could play for NSW in the 2013–14 Sheffield Shield season without compromising his status at Middlesex,^[11] which could lead to him playing for the Australian Test side.

References