Chris Lewis (cricketer)

Clairmonte Christopher Lewis (born 14 February 1968) is an English former cricketer, who played for Nottinghamshire, Surrey and Leicestershire in the 1990s. He played in 32 Test matches and 53 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for England between 1990 and 1998.

Lewis was regarded as an aggressive lower-order batsman, fine fast-medium bowler and an able all-round fielder. He was regarded as a colourful player of the game, who never quite lived up to his early potential. He was later convicted of drug smuggling.

International career

Lewis was drafted into the England squad to tour the West Indies in 1990 when Ricardo Ellcock pulled out through injury, making his one-day international debut during the tour. He made his Test debut the following summer against New Zealand.

He pulled out of England's disappointing tour of Australia the following winter after only one Test, but made an instant impact on his return to the Test team against the West Indies at Birmingham in 1991, taking 6 for 111 (which remained his best Test bowling figures) and scoring 65 (his first Test half-century) batting at no.10. That winter he helped England to a series victory in New Zealand, scoring 70 in the first Test, and taking 5 for 31 in the second. He then helped England to the final of 1992 Cricket World Cup, highlights coming when he won the man of the match awards in wins against the West Indies (where his wickets included Brian Lara), and Sri Lanka, where he took his best one-day international bowling, 4 for 30. Only player of the tournament Martin Crowe won more man of the match awards in the tournament. However, England lost the final, Lewis being dismissed first-ball by Wasim Akram.

His first Test century, in Madras on the occasion of his 25th birthday, on England's 1993 tour of India, gave hope for a bright international future. However England lost all their four Tests that winter, Lewis was dropped after the Lord's test against Australia in 1993, and this remained his only Test century.

Lewis was labelled "The Prat without a Hat" by '' The Sun'', after he was forced to pull out of the first match of England's tour of the West Indies in 1994 with sunstroke after enlisting Devon Malcolm's help to shave his head and then not wearing any protection. According to Martin Williamson, this ''Sun'' headline "came to haunt Lewis for the remainder of his career". Nonetheless, uniquely among England's bowlers on the tour he did appear in all five matches in the Test series against the West Indies, taking seven wickets to bowl England to the brink of a winning position in the third Test at Trinidad before England's batsmen collapsed to a devastating spell from Curtly Ambrose. To Lewis fell the dubious honour of bowling when Lara broke Garfield Sobers' record for the highest individual Test score in the final Test of the series at Antigua,
although Lewis also made an unbeaten 75 as England drew the match. However, he was then dropped from the Test team, though continuing to appear in some one-day internationals and featuring in the England side which won the Hong Kong Sixes in 1994. He was recalled to the Test side as an injury replacement the following winter during the 1994-95 Ashes, taking 4 for 24 as England won an unexpected victory in the fourth Test at Adelaide, but after the next Test was dropped again.

He was recalled for the Birmingham test in 1996, taking his third Test five-wicket haul as England beat India, but was dropped again at the end of the summer, and thereafter only played two more one-day internationals. His international career ended in 1998.

Domestic career

Lewis had a nomadic county career, starting with Leicestershire before moving to Nottinghamshire. In 1996 he moved to Surrey, and in 1998 returned to Leicestershire. Highlights included winning the 1997 Benson & Hedges Cup with Surrey, and winning the 1998 County Championship with Leicestershire. During the latter campaign, he captained Leicestershire in a number of their matches.

Lewis always felt he was driven out of county cricket after alleging that three England teammates had taken bribes to throw matches (a charge that was never substantiated). He was subsequently jeered by crowds and cold-shouldered by players, including his county teammates. It coincided with a decline in his form, and he left professional cricket, aged just 32.

In 2006, he captained Clifton Cricket Club, in the Central Lancashire Cricket League, where he opened the batting and the bowling. In his spare time, he also coached children in Berkshire.

He played four games for Stockton in the Newcastle District Cricket Association in 2007/08.

In 2008, Lewis re-signed for Twenty20 matches for Surrey, in light of his bowling experience. However, his comeback was short and unsuccessful. He played one Friends Provident Trophy game, in which he conceded 51 runs in six overs, and one Twenty20 match. He took no wickets in either.

Lewis captained his boyhood Wembley Cricket Club in the Middlesex County Cricket League in 2016.

Cocaine smuggling

On 8 December 2008, Lewis was arrested at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of smuggling 3.37 kilograms of liquid cocaine, with a street value of about £140,000, into the United Kingdom on a flight from Saint Lucia. After a trial at Croydon Crown Court, on 20 May 2009 Lewis and basketball player Chad Kirnon were found guilty and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was released in June 2015 after serving 6 years of his sentence at HMP High Down.

References

External links

Cricinfo The one that got away

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Chris
1968 births
Living people
England Test cricketers
English cricketers of 1969 to 2000
England One Day International cricketers
Leicestershire cricketers
Nottinghamshire cricketers
Surrey cricketers
British drug traffickers
Guyanese emigrants to England
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Black British sportsmen
British prisoners and detainees
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup