Darren Stevens (cricketer)

Darren Stevens

Stevens batting against Lancashire while Luke Sutton watches on.
Personal information
Full name Darren Ian Stevens
Born 30 April 1976
Leicester, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Role Batting all-rounder
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005–present Kent (squad no. 3)
2010 Mid West Rhinos
1997–2004 Leicestershire
2012–2013 Dhaka Gladiators
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20
Matches 218 259 149
Runs scored 11,578 6,532 3,119
Batting average 35.29 30.52 30.57
100s/50s 28/55 5/42 0/13
Top score 208 133 77
Balls bowled 12,765 3,709 1,266
Wickets 202 100 64
Bowling average 30.49 31.73 25.04
5 wickets in innings 4 2 0
10 wickets in match 1 n/a n/a
Best bowling 7/21 5/32 4/14
Catches/stumpings 161/– 104/– 52/–
Source: Cricinfo, 1 October 2013

Darren Ian Stevens (born 30 April 1976) is an English cricketer. An all-rounder, he bats right handed and bowls right-arm medium-pace.[1] Since his debut in first-class cricket he has played County Cricket for Leicestershire followed by Kent, as well as featuring for the England Lions and Dhaka Gladiators.

Though his career began slowly - with only four County Championship appearances between 1997 and 1999 - Stevens made his mark with a century against Sussex which attracted the attention of former England batsman Colin Cowdrey. With the departure of several lead batsmen, Stevens secured a regular county place and was taken on development tours of Australia in 2003. Moving to Kent in 2004 he began with a prolific season - 1,277 runs in first-class cricket - and improved his bowling. By 2012 he was a prolific scorer in the Championship and in the Twenty20 season. He went on to pass 10,000 runs and 200 wickets in the first-class game. Though he travelled to New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, in the latter to play in the Bangladesh Premier League, his later career was blighted by a charge of failing to report a corrupt approach in late 2013.[1]

Career

Born in Leicester, 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 by his home county at the end of the 2004 season, along with Damian Brandy and George Walker.[6] He then joined Kent for the 2005 season.[7] 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 6 for 60, against Essex in 2011.[8] He won Kent's Player of the Year award in 2005 and again in 2010.[3][9][10]

In 2007 Darren helped the Kent Spitfires win the Twenty20 Cup, scoring an unbeaten 30 including the winning runs, against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston.[11] However a week later he injured a groin muscle whilst top-scoring in Kent's victory over Durham[12] and did not bowl for the rest of the season. He also plays for Dhaka Gladiators in the Bangladesh Premier League.

On 14 August 2013, Stevens was charged by the ICC for failing to report a corrupt approach in connection to a game in the Bangladesh Premier League.[13] In the last game of the 2013 season, Stevens hit 205 not out and believed that the knock could be his last ever innings.[14] However in February 2014, Stevens was found not guilty by the tribunal.[15]

Career Best Performances

as of 1 October 2013

Batting Bowling
Score Fixture Venue Season Score Fixture Venue Season
FC 208 Kent v Glamorgan Canterbury 2005 7-21 Kent v Surrey Canterbury 2011
LA 133 Leicestershire v Northumberland Jesmond 2000 5-32 Kent Spitfires v Scotland Edinburgh 2005
T20 77 Kent Spitfires v Somerset Sabres Birmingham 2009 4-14 Kent Spitfires v Essex Eagles Chelmsford 2007

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cricinfo. "Darren Stevens player profile". Retrieved 8 November 2007.
  2. ↑ CricketArchive. "Sussex v Leicestershire in 1999". Retrieved 8 November 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Cricketer's Who's Who. Green Umbrella Publishing. 2007. pp. 598–599. ISBN 978-1-905828-26-5.
  4. ↑ Cricinfo (10 September 2002). "Stevens named in final Academy squad". Retrieved 8 November 2007.
  5. ↑ Cricinfo (7 December 2002). "England name initial 30-man World Cup squad". Retrieved 8 November 2007.
  6. ↑ "County release trio". BBC Sport. 21 September 2004. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  7. ↑ Cricinfo (3 November 2004). "Darren Stevens signs for Kent". Retrieved 8 November 2007.
  8. ↑ Sky Sports (11 April 2011). "Joseph finishes off Essex". Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  9. ↑ Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2006. Kent County Cricket Club. 2006.
  10. ↑ BBC Sport (15 September 2010). "Darren Stevens' pride at being named Kent's top player". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  11. ↑ Cricinfo (4 August 2007). "Kent take Twenty20 in thrilling final". Retrieved 12 November 2007.
  12. ↑ BBC Sport (12 August 2007). "Stevens haul earns Kent victory". BBC News. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
  13. ↑ BBC Sport (14 August 2013). "Kent all-rounder charged by ICC". BBC News. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  14. ↑ BBC Sport (30 September 2013). "Kent all-rounder proud after double century". BBC News. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  15. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/26355746

External links