Thomas Westley (born 13 March 1989) is an English professional

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 has played

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

for the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

. He is a top order right-handed batsman who occasionally bowls offbreaks and has played first-class cricket for

Essex County Cricket Club Essex 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 Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 when ...

since 2006. He began his cricket career at

Weston Colville Weston Colville is a village in South Cambridgeshire, 10 miles southeast of Cambridge and 6 miles south of Newmarket, close to the border with Suffolk. History The parish of Weston Colville forms a long thin area of 3235 acres stretching from j ...

Cricket Club in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

Early life and education

Westley was born on 13 March 1989 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. He was educated at Linton Village College,

Hills Road Sixth Form College Hills Road Sixth Form College (commonly referred to as HRSFC, Hills Road or just Hills) is a public sector co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England, providing full-time A-level courses for approximately 2000 sixth form students fro ...

and studied at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

County career

Westley's Essex career began in the 2004 Second XI Championship where he played his debut match as a 15-year-old against a Middlesex side captained by then 51-year-old ex-Test cricketer

John Emburey John Ernest Emburey (born 20 August 1952) is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England. According to cricket writer Colin Bateman, Emburey's participation in two S ...

. Westley continued to play occasionally throughout this and the next season, 2005 proving to be an excellent year for the young player as he proved his worth as a squad member. In the same year Westley played two matches in the Minor Counties Championship for

. 2006 saw Westley make his first List A match appearance, against a team of

Sri Lankans This is a demography of the population of Sri Lanka including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Sri Lanka is an island in the ...

, as well as gaining a place in the first team for the 2007 season. In September 2009 Westley scored his first century for the first team reaching 132 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. Westley has also played for MCC and captained the Durham MCC University side in games against county sides and against other university sides. When he is not needed by Essex, he plays in the

East Anglian Premier Cricket League The East Anglian Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the English region of East Anglia. Since it was formed in 1999 the league has been a designated ECB Premier League.Mildenhall Cricket Club Mildenhall Cricket Club in Suffolk was established in 1876 and plays at Wamil Way, a picturesque riverside setting with two cricket fields, where the club also grows its own willow trees for bat making. In 2016 the club's 1XI won the Two Countie ...

, as well as playing for Radwinter Bowls Club.

International career

After playing for the

England Under-19 cricket team The England Under-19 cricket team have been playing official Under-19 Test matches since 1974. Prior to 1991/92 they were known as England Young Cricketers. Former captains include Mike Atherton, Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook and Andrew Flin ...

, including at the 2008 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, Westley was added to

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 ...

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), ...

squad ahead of the third Test 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 ...

in July 2017 batting third as a replacement for the injured

Gary Ballance Gary Simon Ballance (born 22 November 1989) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who also represented England internationally until 2017, and represents Zimbabwe from 2022 onwards. He is a left-handed batsman and a leg break bowler, who last played for Yor ...

. He made his Test debut at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

on 27 July 2017, scoring 25 runs in the first innings and 59 in the second, as England won by 239 runs. Westley was again selected to bat third in the fourth Test and for all three of England's Test matches against the West Indies played in August and September 2017. A series of low scores meant that he dropped out of the side after the end of the 2017 English summer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Westley, Thomas 1989 births Living people English cricketers England Test cricketers Sportspeople from Cambridge Cambridgeshire cricketers Essex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Durham MCCU cricketers Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham Essex cricket captains