Tom Friend (born 3 May 1991) is an English

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. Friend 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 ...

who bowls right-arm

fast-medium Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

. He was born in Newport,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, and was educated on the island at West Wight Middle School and

Carisbrooke College Carisbrooke College is a foundation trust-supported secondary school in Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight, formerly ''Carisbrooke High School''. Sixth form students are based at the Island Innovation sixth form Campus, in Newport, a shared sixth f ...

, before attending

Brockenhurst College Brockenhurst College is a large tertiary college situated in Brockenhurst, Hampshire. Co-educational since the 1920s, Brockenhurst College accepts students over the age of 16 or year 12 students, whichever occurs first due to safeguarding polic ...

on the mainland. Friend played Second XI cricket for the Worcestershire Second XI in 2010. On 28 February 2011 it was announced that Friend had signed for the

Unicorns The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicor ...

for the

2011 Clydesdale Bank 40 The 2011 Clydesdale Bank 40 tournament was the second season of the ECB 40 limited overs cricket competition for the English and Welsh first-class counties. In addition to the 18 counties, Scotland and the Netherlands took part, as well as the Un ...

. It was in this competition that he made his

List A 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 ...

debut against

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 ...

. His maiden wicket, taken in this match, was Tom Smith. He made two further appearances in the competition against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and Lancashire, but he failed to take any further wickets. While studying for his degree in Sport Development at

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

, Friend made his debut in

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 ...

for

Cardiff MCC University Cardiff South Wales MCC University, formerly Cardiff University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, commonly abbreviated to Cardiff MCCU, is one of six University Centres of Cricketing Excellence supported by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It c ...

against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Taunton Vale Sports Club Ground Taunton Vale Sports Club (usually referred to as "Taunton Vale", "Vale" or "TVSC")''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' (2013) p 607 is a multi use community sports club located in Taunton, Somerset. Taunton Vale HC, Taunton Cricket and Taunton Vale T ...

in 2012. He made a further first-class appearance in that season 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 ...

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Friend, Tom 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Newport, Isle of Wight English cricketers Unicorns cricketers Cardiff MCCU cricketers Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University Shropshire cricketers Herefordshire cricketers Cricketers from the Isle of Wight