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Full name Robert Damien Bale Croft
Born May 25, 1970, Morriston, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales
Current age 38 years 89 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
St
Tests
21
34
8
421
37*
16.19
1160
36.29
0
0
50
2
10
0
ODIs
50
36
12
345
32
14.37
519
66.47
0
0
23
2
11
0
First-class
361
535
95
11595
143
26.35
7
50
171
0
List A
388
325
59
6296
143
23.66
4
31
93
0
Twenty20
41
29
5
539
62*
22.45
401
134.41
0
3
60
16
18
0
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
361
79328
37139
1044
8/66
35.57
2.80
75.9
48
9
List A
388
17773
12829
398
6/20
6/20
32.23
4.33
44.6
5
1
0
Twenty20
41
39
838
1064
42
3/12
3/12
25.33
7.61
19.9
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
Glamorgan v Gloucestershire at Cardiff, Aug 12-15, 2008 scorecard
List A debut
1989
Last List A
Glamorgan v Leicestershire at Colwyn Bay, Aug 10, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut
Glamorgan v Northamptonshire at Cardiff, Jun 16, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20
Durham v Glamorgan at Chester-le-Street, Jul 22, 2008 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
