Christopher Paul Schofield (born 6 October 1978) is an English
cricketer
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, who played Tests and Twenty20 Internationals. Schofield is one of the few
leg-spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...
ners to play cricket for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in the 21st century.
Early career
Born on 6 October 1978, in
Wardle,
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
, Greater Manchester, Schofield first came to prominence playing for the England Under-19 team, making his debut for them (as a batsman) at the age of 16 in April 1995. However, his career proper began in 1997, when he appeared on a number of further occasions for the Under-19s, and the following winter played for England in the Under-19s World Cup in South Africa which the team won. He finally made his
first-class debut for
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
against
Glamorgan
, HQ = Cardiff
, Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Code = GLA
, CodeName = Chapman code
, Replace =
* West Glamorgan
* Mid Glamorgan
* South Glamorgan
, Motto ...
in July 1998, although figures of 0–139 in the first innings were not the most impressive way to begin. (He claimed 2–44 in the second innings.)
1999 saw Schofield become an important member of the Lancashire side, and he played ten first-class games that season, finishing with 29 wickets
at 32.79 including his first five-wicket haul: 5–66 against
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
*Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...
. In 1999–2000 he had a useful tour to New Zealand and
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
with
England A, and his good form – combined with the England hierarchy's
Warne-inspired thirst for a leg-spinner of their own – led to Schofield's being awarded one of the
ECB's first batch of central contracts in 2000.
International career
In May 2000, Schofield made his Test debut against
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
at
Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...
. Despite a crushing England win
by an innings and 209 runs, the game was a frustrating match for the leg-spinner as Zimbabwe's ineptitude against the seamers meant that he was not called upon to bowl a ball, and he was out third ball for nought in his only innings. The second Test at
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
was better in terms of runs – he made a handy 57 from number eight – but in 18 less than controlled overs he took 0–73.
In July 2007, he was picked in a preliminary 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in September, professing himself to have "worked very hard to get back into international colours". On 6 August 2007, Schofield was named in the full
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
squad for the
2007 Twenty20 World Championship.
Later career
That was the end as far as Schofield's brief relationship with an England cap was concerned. He returned to his county, and though he was picked for another A tour to the West Indies in 2000–01 things started to fall apart shortly afterwards. In 2001 he took only 14 wickets at an average of over 54, though 26 wickets at 18.53 in
List A cricket
List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...
were a compensation, and although his average of 18.38 in 2002 looked better it was deceptive: Schofield was bowled only 122 first-class overs in total that summer.
The 2003 season continued Schofield's downward slide: 15 wickets at 42.40 in first-class cricket; five at 47.60 in List A games. This, though, was as nothing when set against his miserable 2004: a career-best knock of 99 against
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
could not hide the fact that he was selected for only three
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
matches, in which he took precisely one wicket in total; and though he played ten one-day games these were almost entirely as a batsman: he bowled only 36 List A balls in 2004.
At the end of the 2004 season, Lancashire released him, coach
Mike Watkinson
Michael Watkinson (born 1 August 1961) is a former English cricketer who played four Test matches and one One Day International in the mid-1990s. A right-handed batsman and right-arm bowler of either medium-pace or off-spin, he was instrumenta ...
's understated remark that Schofield had "perhaps not reached his full potential" ringing in his ears. However, the player felt that he had been informed of the decision to dispense with his services too late in the year, and that this had affected his chance of finding a new employer for the following season. He brought a case for
unfair dismissal In labour law, unfair dismissal is an act of employment termination made without good reason or contrary to the country's specific legislation.
Situation per country
Australia
(See: '' unfair dismissal in Australia'')
Australia has long-standing ...
against Lancashire to an
employment tribunal
Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...
, and in April 2005 the panel found in his favour.
Meanwhile, Schofield returned to play in
club cricket
Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obs ...
, for
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
and Suffolk in the
Minor Counties Championship
The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...
, as well as having several games for the Durham,
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
and
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
second teams. In 2006 he played for Ormskirk Cricket Club in the
Liverpool and District Cricket Competition's Premier League.
From late August 2006, he appeared for
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, though not (yet) under contract. In October 2006 he was offered a one-year contract for 2007 with Surrey and accepted the offer. He remained with Surrey until the end of the 2011 season, when he was released by the county after the club had gained promotion and won the Pro 40.
References
External links
*
Chris Schofield: Back at last
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schofield, Chris
1978 births
Living people
England Test cricketers
England Twenty20 International cricketers
English cricketers
Lancashire cricketers
Surrey cricketers
People from Wardle, Greater Manchester
NBC Denis Compton Award recipients
Cheshire cricketers
Suffolk cricketers
Cricketers from Greater Manchester