John Angus Rae Blain (born 4 January 1979) is a Scottish

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er. He is a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

, and a right-arm fast-medium pace bowler. In May 2019, he was inducted into

Cricket Scotland Cricket Scotland, formerly known as the Scottish Cricket Union, is the Sport governing body, governing body of the sport of cricket in Scotland. The body is based at the National Cricket Academy, Edinburgh. The SCU was formed in 1908, but unde ...

's Hall of Fame. However, in July 2022, Blain was "temporarily suspended" from the hall of fame.

Playing career

Attaining his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

in 1996, Blain became Scotland's youngest-capped cricketer since 1890. He played during the 1996 European Championship taking seven wickets at 9.85. Blain was initially signed as a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

but decided to switch to cricket, signing for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, having not made an impact as a footballer. Blain left

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northa ...

at the end of the 2003 season to join

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

, where he made sporadic appearances for the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

until he was initially released in 2006. He played for Yorkshire League side, Rotherham Cricket Club in 2007, and was due to sign for the Scottish League side, Ferguslie, in 2008. The move fell through, and Blain played for the

Scottish Saltires The Scotland national cricket team represents the country of Scotland. They play their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh, and also some other venues. Scotland became Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1994

and

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

. He appeared in all Scotland's games at the

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and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

World Cups. He finished the 1999 event with 10 wickets at 21 with a strike rate of 22.3, the best in the tournament. In the 2010, Blain made a solitary appearance for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

in the

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 ...

, and in both that campaign and in 2011, Blain was the regular captain of

's Second XI.

Coaching career

Blain is an ECB Level 4 Coach. Blain was named as head coach of

Grange Cricket Club The Grange Club is a cricket and sports club in the Stockbridge district of Edinburgh, Scotland. The cricket ground, commonly known as The Grange, is the regular home of the Scotland national cricket team, and is situated adjacent to the Edin ...

. He also played as player-cum-coach with

West of Scotland Cricket Club The West of Scotland Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club's home ground is Hamilton Crescent, located in the Partick area of Glasgow's West End. West of Scotland, traditionally, are one of the working class cricke ...

from 2010 to 2013. He was name head coach of newly formed team

Eastern Knights The Eastern Knights are a regional cricket club re-founded in 2016 representing the east coast of Scotland in the Cricket Scotland Regional Pro Series, the premier domestic competition for cricket in Scotland, roughly analogous to the England and ...

which will play in

Regional Pro Series The Regional Series is a professional cricket league in Scotland. It is Scotland's premier domestic competition for the most talented cricketers in the country. The series was first contested in 2016 replaced the North Sea Pro Series a competition ...

.Coaching contacts
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blain, John 1979 births Living people Cricketers from Edinburgh Scottish cricketers Scotland One Day International cricketers Scotland Twenty20 International cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Commonwealth Games competitors for Scotland Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Yorkshire cricket captains Scottish men's footballers Falkirk F.C. players Scottish cricket coaches Men's association football players not categorized by position