Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Robert Damien Bale Croft
Born May 25, 1970, Morriston, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales
Current age 37 years 358 days
Major teams England, Glamorgan
Nickname Crofty
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Height 5 ft 11 in
Education St John Lloyd Catholic School, Llanelli

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	21	34	8	421	37*	16.19	1160	36.29	0	0	50	2	10
ODIs	50	36	12	345	32	14.37	519	66.47	0	0	23	2	11
First-class	353	524	93	11449	143	26.56			7	50			169
List A	385	322	59	6268	143	23.83			4	31			92
Twenty20	32	23	5	394	62*	21.88	293	134.47	0	2	44	12	15

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	21	31	4619	1825	49	5/95	7/143	37.24	2.37	94.2	1	1	0
ODIs	50	49	2466	1743	45	3/51	3/51	38.73	4.24	54.8	0	0	0
First-class	353		77681	36416	1017	8/66		35.80	2.81	76.3		47	9
List A	385		17653	12751	394	6/20	6/20	32.36	4.33	44.8	5	1	0
Twenty20	32	31	648	851	33	3/32	3/32	25.78	7.87	19.6	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	England v Pakistan at The Oval, Aug 22-26, 1996 scorecard
Last Test	England v Australia at Nottingham, Aug 2-4, 2001 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	England v Pakistan at Manchester, Aug 29, 1996 scorecard
Last ODI	England v Australia at The Oval, Jun 21, 2001 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class debut	1989
Last First-class	Gloucestershire v Glamorgan at Bristol, Apr 29-May 2, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1989
Last List A	Durham v Glamorgan at Chester-le-Street, Sep 15, 2007 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Glamorgan v Northamptonshire at Cardiff, Jun 16, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Gloucestershire v Glamorgan at Bristol, Jul 6, 2007 scorecard

Profile

A Welsh patriot, Croft thinks of England as the British Lions. As an offspinner, he gives the ball less flight than he used to, but still possesses a deceptive arm ball. With the bat, he collects most of his runs with front-foot drives, but his back-foot play has improved since the Aussies roughed him up in 1997. Croft has fallen in and out with the selectors, and when he was dropped in 2000, he huffily declared he'd had enough anyway. He was a fixture in England's one-day side from the end of 1996 until the World Cup in 1999, and bowled with real guile during the Tests in New Zealand in 1996-97. But his confidence took a battering in 1997, and his career waned: the flight and turn virtually vanished, and his best moment came as a batsman, when he held South Africa at bay for more than three hours to save the Old Trafford Test in 1998. Croft tried to reinvent himself in 2000, but his new variations proved to be no more than gimmicks. He did nonetheless play a part in England's success in Sri Lanka, replacing Ian Salisbury and forming an effective partnership with Ashley Giles. But his career was effectively ended when he pulled out of England's tour to India in November 2001 because of concerns over safety. Although he was picked to tour Sri Lanka in 2003-04, he sat out all three Tests and, shortly after returning home, he announced his retirement from international cricket, to enable him to concentrate full-time on the captaincy of his beloved Glamorgan. He has excelled: under his leadership, Glamorgan won the one-day league in 2004 and in the same year they returned to Division One of the Championship. Croft has led by example on and off the pitch and his appointment as captain has not diminished his consistent form with both bat and ball, having taken 122 wickets and scored 1451 runs in the last two championship campaigns. However, he stepped down as captain towards the end of the 2006 season, handing the reins to David Hemp.
Lawrence Booth September 2006

May 1, 2008

Robert Croft boosted Glamorgan with 45
© Getty Images

Jul 6, 2007

Robert Croft blasts out for Glamorgan
© Getty Images

Aug 0, 2006

Cartoon of Robert Croft fly-fishing
© Andy Ward

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