Michael Carberry

Michael Alexander Carberry (born 29 September 1980) is an English former professional cricketer who most recently played for Leicestershire County Cricket Club. Carberry is a left-handed opening batsman who bowls occasional right-arm off breaks.

Carberry began his career at Surrey, during which time he also played for the Surrey Cricket Board. He played for Surrey from 2001 to 2002, before joining Kent. He played for Kent from 2003 to 2005, before becoming frustrated with his opportunities there. He left Kent at the close of the 2005 season, joined Hampshire for the 2006. Increasingly impressive performances for Hampshire led to international recognition, first with the England Lions, before making his Test debut against Bangladesh on England's 2009–10 tour. In July 2016 Carberry was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour.

Early life

Carberry, who was born in Croydon on 29 September 1980, is of Guyanese and Barbadian descent. He was educated at St John Rigby College in West Wickham.

Domestic cricket

Surrey

Carberry began playing for the Surrey Seconds in 1998, while the following season he made his List A debut for the Surrey Cricket Board against Norfolk in the 1999 NatWest Trophy. He scored 19 runs in the match, which the Surrey Cricket Board won. He played in the team's following round match against Cheshire, with Carberry being dismissed for 4 runs by Christopher Hall, in a match which ended in victory for Cheshire. He spent two further years in the Surrey Seconds, before making his first-class debut for the county against Leicestershire. He played 6 first-class matches in 2001, scoring 311 runs and scoring his maiden half century, against Glamorgan. He also made his List A debut for Surrey against Leicestershire, with the match following immediately after his first-class debut. The following season he made only one first-class appearance, against Cambridge UCCE, in a season in which Surrey won their 19th County Championship. He did, however, score his maiden first-class century in the match against Cambridge UCCE, making 153 not out. He found more opportunities that season in List A cricket, playing a handful of matches, though without success. However, with opportunities limited at Surrey, Carberry joined Kent for the 2003 season.

Kent

Carberry was signed initially by Kent as a batsman who could stand-in for Rob Key, whose international career was in its infancy, when he was on international duty. His first-class debut for Kent came against Leicestershire in the 2003 County Championship. With Key absent for the majority of the season, Carberry opened the batting in most of the matches he played, making 14 appearances and having a number of different opening partners, ranging from Key, James Tredwell, David Fulton and Greg Blewett. In his 14 first-class matches that season, he scored 824 runs at an average of 35.82, with a high score of 137. He played a handful of List A matches in his first season with Kent; in that format he was used as both a middle-order and opening batsman. This season saw Carberry make his maiden List A half century, a score of 79 against Worcestershire in the 2003 National League. He made his Twenty20 debut in the 2003 season, making 5 appearances in the Twenty20 Cup.

The following season, Carberry made 12 first-class appearances, which came with some success. He scored 639 runs at an average of 42.60, with two centuries and a high score of 112. He performed well in that season's tour match against the New Zealanders, scoring 75 runs and sharing a 117-run partnership with Geraint Jones. A regular appearer in List A cricket for Kent that season, he scored 360 runs at an average of 24.00, with a high score of 76. He again featured for Kent in the 2004 Twenty20 Cup, although he performed poorly in that season's competition, scoring 15 runs at an average of just 3.75. He fell out of favour in the County Championship in 2005, playing just a single first-class match, against Bangladesh A. He still managed to maintain his place in the Kent limited-overs side, playing 12 List A matches in 2005, scoring 204 runs at an average of 24.50 with a high score of 63. He performed well in the 2005 Twenty20 Cup, making 7 appearances. He scored 242 runs at an average of 80.66, with a high score of 59 not out. During the 2005 season, Carberry had become increasingly frustrated by figures at Kent; the county gave him permission to talk to other counties. He eventually opted to join Hampshire for the 2006 season. His time at Kent brought him 1510 first-class runs at an average of 37.75, with a high score of 137, and 736 one-day runs at an average of 23.74, with a high score of 79.

Later speaking about his overall time and final season at Kent to the ''Southern Daily Echo'' in 2010, he said "I was pretty close to quitting", and how in his opinion "they entmessed me about quite a lot for three years."

Hampshire

Having joined Hampshire on a two-year contract, Carberry made his first-class debut for the county against Lancashire in the 2006 County Championship. He followed this up by making his limited-overs debut for the county against Ireland in the Cheltenham & Gloucester at Castle Avenue, Dublin. He firmly established himself in the Hampshire side in 2006, making 15 first-class appearances, in which he scored 938 runs at an average of 36.04, which included two centuries against Warwickshire and Middlesex. Shown faith by then Hampshire captain Shane Warne and coach Paul Terry, Carberry also appeared in 15 List A matches in his first season at the Rose Bowl, scoring 541 runs at an average of 36.06, with a high score of 88. He continued his previous seasons form with Kent, he performed well in the 2006 Twenty20 Cup, scoring 222 runs at an average of 27.75, with a high score of 90 against Middlesex. His performances that season saw him selected for the England A tour to Bangladesh.

The 2007 season was to prove even more successful for Carberry, with him scoring 1,067 first-class runs, which came at an average of 50.80, the first time his batting average had gone above 50 for a season. He struck his highest first-class score that season, making 192 not out against Warwickshire. He played 14 List A matches in 2007, scoring 345 runs with a high score of 75 not out. Additionally, he played part in guiding Hampshire to the final of the 2007 Friends Provident Trophy at Lord's, although in the final itself against Durham he was dismissed for 23 runs by Graham Onions, with Hampshire losing by 125 runs. His performances in the 2007 saw Carberry named as the Hampshire Cricket Society Player of the Year, as well as seeing him selected for the England Lions tour of India. He played for the Marylebone Cricket Club in the Champion County match against Sussex at the beginning of the 2008 season, batting once in the match and scoring 8 runs before being dismissed by Ryan Harris. His form dropped in 2008, with him scoring 815 first-class runs at average of 31.34, with a single century score of 108 (although this came for England Lions against the touring New Zealanders). In the 2008 Twenty20 Cup, Carberry had better fortunes, scoring 334 runs at an average of 37.11, with a high score of 58.

2009 brought further success for Carberry, with him passing 1,000 for the season. In total, he scored 1,251 runs at an average of 69.50, his best season average up to that part of his career. He also recorded his first double century that season, which came against Warwickshire. His total number of runs by August in the County Championship were third overall, behind Marcus Trescothick

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