Robert Croft
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Robert Damien Bale Croft
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
(born 25 May 1970) is a former
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
cricket 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 ...
er who played international 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 ...
. He is an
off-spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...
bowler who played for
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
and captained the county from 2003 to 2006. He retired from first class cricket at the end of the 2012 season, having played county cricket for 23 seasons. He commentates on cricket occasionally for
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
.


Early life and education

Croft was born on 25 May 1970 in Morriston,
Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
. He was educated at St John Lloyd's Roman Catholic Comprehensive School,
Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...
. He played rugby union as a scrum half for Llanelli RFC Under-11s. He studied at Swansea Metropolitan University.


Cricketing career

He made his
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 ...
debut against
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in 1996, and did enough to earn a touring place to
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 ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. In Christchurch, he took his
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
best figures of 5–95 and his winter figures were a highly impressive 182.1–53–340–18. He played the first five tests of the 1997 Ashes series but was dropped for the final test, replaced by
Phil Tufnell Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell (born 29 April 1966) is a former English international cricketer and current television and radio personality. A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, he played in 42 Test matches and 20 One Day Internationals for ...
, after averaging 54 with the ball and showing a weakness to short-pitched fast bowling as a batsman. Around this time, Croft was involved in what
ESPNCricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...
calls "an unsavoury, but in truth pretty harmless, pushing and finger-wagging incident" with
Mark Ilott Mark Christopher Ilott (born 27 August 1970) is a former English professional cricketer. Having previously played with the minor county Hertfordshire, Ilott began his career with Essex in 1988. A left-arm swing bowler in the mould of John ...
during the
NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class cricket, first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scott ...
semi-final against
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, which Glamorgan narrowly lost. However Croft had a happier experience that year in helping his county to their first
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 ...
in 28 years, Croft taking 54 wickets in Glamorgan's campaign at an average of 23.31. Croft toured the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
with England that winter, but in spite of taking six wickets in the fourth Test, it was the only Test he played that series. Restored to the England Test team the following summer, his last-wicket stand with
Angus Fraser Angus Robert Charles Fraser (born 8 August 1965) is an English cricket administrator. He served as the managing director of Middlesex Cricket between 2009 and 2021, before assuming a new role heading the club's academy He is also a former E ...
in the third Test of the 1998 series against
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
saved England from an innings defeat, Croft personally scoring his highest Test score, 37 not out. ''
Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' observed that "England found an unlikely hero in Croft, who made up for three wicketless Tests by keeping his end intact for more than three hours". Croft was dropped for the next Test, although his innings helped to shift the momentum in the series, which England won. He enjoyed another relatively successful tour in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
early in 2001, taking nine wickets at 28.66 as England won the three-match Test series. In general, Croft was a more effective Test bowler overseas, where he took 35 wickets in 9 Tests at 24.65, than in England, where he took 14 wickets in 12 Tests at 68.71. His final Test match was the third Ashes Test of 2001 at
Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also ...
where he bowled just 3 overs. He was selected for the subsequent tour of India but he withdrew because of safety fears and was also selected for the 2003/04 tour of Sri Lanka but failed to play. After returning home, he announced his international retirement to concentrate on the captaincy of Glamorgan. On 12 September 2006, after just two
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 ...
victories in 15 games thus far in the season, he announced his resignation from the captaincy, and was succeeded by
David Hemp David Lloyd Hemp (born 8 November 1970) is a former Bermudian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler, who has played domestic cricket for Glamorgan, Free State, and Warwickshire. David has a younger brother, ...
. Exactly a year later, he passed 1,000 first-class wickets after dismissing Niall O'Brien; he became the first Welsh cricketer to take the double of 10,000 first-class career runs and 1,000 first-class career wickets. As of March 2022, he is the last cricketer anywhere to achieve this feat in first-class cricket, and with the increasing focus of higher-ability cricketers on limited-over forms of the game, he is likely to remain the last. In November 2007, he joined voices calling for a "clampdown" on
Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...
problems with abusive crowds, after suffering abusive calls at
Taunton Cricket Ground The County Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as Cooper Associates County Ground, and nicknamed Ciderabad, is a cricket ground in Taunton, Somerset. It is the home of Somerset County Cricket Club, who have played there since 1882. The ground ...
. On 1 August 2010 he got his first hat-trick against Gloucestershire to help Glamorgan win the match. It also made him the first Glamorgan spinner to take a hat-trick in 46 years. Croft was once honoured as a druid at the Welsh cultural event, the National Eisteddfod. He was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cricket. In October 2018, Croft left his role as Glamorgan head coach.


England tours

England 'A' * West Indies 1992 * South Africa 1993/94 England * Zimbabwe / New Zealand 1996/97 * Sharjah / West Indies 1997/98 * Australia 1998/99 * Sri Lanka 2000/01 and 2003/04.


Team honours

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
(1989 – 2012) Champions *
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 ...
: 1997 *
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
: 1993, 2002, 2004 *
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
Division 2: 2001


Individual honours

*
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
Cap: 1992 *
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
Young
Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...
: 1990, 1992 *
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...
: 1996, 2003, 2004, 2007 * St. Helen's Balconiers
Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...
: 2007 *
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
benefit season: 2000 *
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
captain: 2003–2006 * The Weatherall Award: 2004 (for the leading all-rounder in English first-class game) * Reached 1000 first class wickets for Glamorgan


Career best performances


Achievements

* First Welsh cricketer to score 10,000 runs and take 1,000 wickets in first-class cricket (2007) * Elected to the Gorsedd of Bards


Books

* Bennett, Androw and Croft, Robert (1995) ''Dyddiadur Troellwr'' Y Lolfa, Talybont, Dyfed * Steen, Rob with Croft, Robert and Elliott, Matthew (1997) ''Poms and cobbers : the Ashes 1997 : an inside view'' Andre Deutsch, London


References


External links


Cricinfo page on Robert Croft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Robert 1970 births Living people England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers Welsh cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Glamorgan cricket captains Cricketers from Swansea Alumni of Swansea Metropolitan University Bards of the Gorsedd Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Members of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) people English cricket coaches Test and County Cricket Board XI cricketers Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup