John Patrick Stephenson (born 14 March 1965) is an English former

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 officia ...

er, who is currently CEO at Essex County Cricket Club. The cricket writer, Colin Bateman, commented on Stephenson's

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

appearance, "by the time John Stephenson was picked in 1989, England's selection policy resembled one of those

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

machines in which numbered balls are blown up a tube at random". Bateman added, "Stephenson, an intelligent, useful all-round cricketer, became player No. 29 used by England in a shambolic series – a post-war record".

Life and career

He was educated at

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

and Durham University. While an undergraduate he was awarded a palatinate for cricket in 1986. He had a long county cricket career as a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium bowler for

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 Grea ...

(1985–1994 and 2002–2004) and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

(1995–2001). He also captained Hampshire between 1996 and 1997. He helped Essex win 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 ...

in 1986, 1991 and 1992. Stephenson was a

One Test Wonder In cricket, a one-Test wonder is usually a cricketer who is only selected for one Test match during his career and never represents his country again. This is not necessarily due to a poor performance and can be for numerous reasons, such as inju ...

, playing only one

against Australia at The Oval in 1989, opening the batting alongside Essex colleague

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, h ...

. His call up was assisted by a timely century for an England XI against a

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

XI a week before his Test Match. Later in his career he was twice picked to tour with the England A team (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 ...

in 1989–90 and

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 Greate ...

in 1991–92). He enjoyed some success as a bowler on the latter tour, taking 5 for 53 in the third unofficial "Test". He was also part of the England squad which won the

Hong Kong Sixes The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is a Six-a-side international cricket tournament held at the Kowloon Cricket Club comprising between eight and twelve teams. Organised by Cricket Hong Kong, it is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council. The ...

tournament in 1993. He was appointed Head of Cricket at the MCC in mid-2004, and thereafter appeared only in a handful of MCC matches. He was responsible for MCC's playing and touring programmes, the strategic management of the playing and practice areas at Lord's, and supervision of the MCC Young Cricketers programme. Stephenson left MCC and took up the role of CEO at Essex County Cricket Club in October 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, John 1965 births People educated at Felsted School Living people Boland cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers Essex cricketers Hampshire cricket captains Hampshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People from Stebbing Sportspeople from Essex British Universities cricketers Test and County Cricket Board Under-25s XI cricketers Alumni of the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham English cricket administrators Cricketers from Essex

Life and career

See also

References

External links