Liam Plunkett
Encyclopedia
Liam Edward Plunkett is an English
cricket
er, who plays for Durham
and England
. In the 2005 season
he was Durham's leading first-class
wicket-taker, with 51 wickets at a bowling average
of 30.84, including eight for 88 in his first game of the season against Leicestershire
.
squads to tour
Pakistan
in November & December 2005 after an injury to Simon Jones
. He made his Test debut in the third Test of that series in Lahore
taking figures of 2-125 in the innings defeat.
He was subsequently taken on the 2005-06 tour to India
. He played in the second Test at Mohali
, replacing Ian Blackwell
in the side. However, he was largely unimpressive, taking only one wicket and scoring just one run over two innings. He was replaced by James Anderson
for the third Test.
Injuries to Steve Harmison
, Anderson and Jones meant Plunkett started the first Test of the Sri Lankan
tour
of England in the summer of 2006. He achieved his best figures to date on 25 May 2006, when taking three wickets before lunch against in the second Test at Edgbaston
. This included a double wicket maiden in his first over of the day, dismissing Michael Vandort
and Mahela Jayawardene
.
He was in the squad for the 2006-07 Ashes series
, but did not play in a Test. Indeed, some cricket commentators have questioned the value of him being in the squad, leading to the humorous suggestion that he is there to work as a translator for fellow Durham
player Paul Collingwood
, a somewhat cruel joke about the northeastern English dialects.
He was selected in the 12 man squad to play in the first test in the 2007 West Indies tour
of England.
in his first ODI on 10 December 2005 after Kevin Pietersen
went off with a back injury. Plunkett finished with England's best bowling figures, taking 3 wickets for 51 runs, and he was also involved in the run out
of Shoaib Akhtar
. They were three of the last six wickets, which fell for 23 as England went on to win the match by 42 runs.
Two days later, when Plunkett entered the crease, England's score was a disappointing 130 for 8 in the second ODI. He added 56 runs to the total in a record ninth-wicket 100 run partnership with Vikram Solanki
before chipping a return catch to Shoaib Akhtar
.
England needed to keep the Pakistani run rate
below five an over, however, after setting a target of 231, but Plunkett's seven overs went for 63 - Kamran Akmal
taking 39 off the 25 balls Plunkett bowled to him.
Plunkett did not feature in another ODI match until 30 January 2007, against New Zealand
in Perth
, Australia. He took 3 wickets for 54 runs in 9 overs. He was also picked in the next game against Australia
on 2 February 2007 in Sydney
.
He took 3 wickets for 34 runs off 9.5 overs. Perhaps the highlights of Plunkett's bowling was the wicket of stand in captain and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist
. Plunkett bowled Gilchrist with the very first ball of Australia's innings. He also took the wickets of Michael Clarke
and Glenn McGrath
.
As proof of his worth as a tailender, after just 18 ODI games he held a part of both the 8th and 9th wicket partnership records for England.
debut on 15 June 2006 against Sri Lanka
, taking 1-37 from four overs; he did not bat.
in November 2007, fellow Durham
fast bowler
Steve Harmison
signed for Highveld Lions
. Harmison and Plunkett actually played against each other in a four day match on 15-18 November 2007.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, who plays for Durham
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
and England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
. In the 2005 season
2005 English cricket season
Before the beginning of the 2005 English cricket season began, a resurgent English cricket team had won four Test series in a row, going unbeaten through the 2004 calendar year. The start of the international season saw England defeat Bangladesh 2–0 in their two-match series, winning both Tests by...
he was Durham's leading first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
wicket-taker, with 51 wickets at a bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 30.84, including eight for 88 in his first game of the season against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
.
Test cricket
Plunkett was called up for the England One Day International and TestTest cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
squads to tour
English cricket team in Pakistan in 2005-06
England failed to chase a target of under 200 runs for the first time since the fourth Test of the 1998-99 Ashes,, as Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Akhtar shared seven wickets to bowl England out in three spurts at Multan...
Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
in November & December 2005 after an injury to Simon Jones
Simon Jones (cricketer)
Simon Philip Jones MBE is a Welsh cricketer, who played internationally for England. Formerly playing his county cricket for Glamorgan County Cricket Club and then Worcestershire before moving in September 2009 to Hampshire. He is currently on a month's loan with his first county, Glamorgan...
. He made his Test debut in the third Test of that series in Lahore
Gaddafi Stadium
Gaddafi Stadium is a cricket ground in Lahore, Pakistan. It was designed by Daghestani-born architect and engineer Nasreddin Murat-Khan who also designed Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan and constructed by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company in 1959. Following the ground's renovation for the 1996 Cricket World...
taking figures of 2-125 in the innings defeat.
He was subsequently taken on the 2005-06 tour to India
English cricket team in India in 2005-06
The English cricket team toured India during February, March and April 2006. The English cricket team was aspiring to maintain the form that took them to second place in the ICC Test Championship before their disastrous spell against Pakistan, and which helped win the 2005 Ashes series at home to...
. He played in the second Test at Mohali
Mohali
Mohali is a city adjacent to Chandigarh, 18th District in Punjab, India. It is officially named after the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzada Ajit Singh . It, along with Chandigarh and Panchkula, form a part of the Chandigarh Tricity...
, replacing Ian Blackwell
Ian Blackwell
Ian David Blackwell is an English cricketer. A left-arm orthodox spinner and powerful middle-order batsman, he has played for England in one-day and Test sides, and plays county cricket for Durham, having left Somerset at the end of the 2008 season.-Career:Blackwell was called up for the England...
in the side. However, he was largely unimpressive, taking only one wicket and scoring just one run over two innings. He was replaced by James Anderson
James Anderson (cricketer)
James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day...
for the third Test.
Injuries to Steve Harmison
Steve Harmison
Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....
, Anderson and Jones meant Plunkett started the first Test of the Sri Lankan
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
tour
Sri Lankan cricket team in England in 2006
Sri Lanka toured England for cricket matches during the 2006 international cricket season. England were back home for the first time since September and looked to maintain their Test standards, which saw them keep their second place in the ICC Test Championship in India, and the teams were also...
of England in the summer of 2006. He achieved his best figures to date on 25 May 2006, when taking three wickets before lunch against in the second Test at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
. This included a double wicket maiden in his first over of the day, dismissing Michael Vandort
Michael Vandort
Michael Graydon Vandort is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He is one of the tallest batsman ever to play test cricket and stands at 6 feet 5 inches....
and Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene
Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene , known as Mahela Jayawardene, is the former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a specialist batsman who has a Test average of over 50, and an ODI average in the 30s...
.
He was in the squad for the 2006-07 Ashes series
2006-07 Ashes series
The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia and England for the Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that had been lost to England in the 2005 Ashes series...
, but did not play in a Test. Indeed, some cricket commentators have questioned the value of him being in the squad, leading to the humorous suggestion that he is there to work as a translator for fellow Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
player Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
, a somewhat cruel joke about the northeastern English dialects.
He was selected in the 12 man squad to play in the first test in the 2007 West Indies tour
West Indian cricket team in England in 2007
The West Indian cricket team toured England from 12 May to 7 July 2007 as part of the 2007 English cricket season. The tour included four Tests, two Twenty20 international matches and three One Day Internationals...
of England.
One Day International cricket
Plunkett came on as a Super SubSubstitute (cricket)
A substitute in the sport of cricket is a replacement player that the umpires allow when a player has been injured or become ill after the nomination of the players at the start of the game...
in his first ODI on 10 December 2005 after Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...
went off with a back injury. Plunkett finished with England's best bowling figures, taking 3 wickets for 51 runs, and he was also involved in the run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
of Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, when he clocked in at 161.3 km/h in his bowling speed, twice at a cricket match against...
. They were three of the last six wickets, which fell for 23 as England went on to win the match by 42 runs.
Two days later, when Plunkett entered the crease, England's score was a disappointing 130 for 8 in the second ODI. He added 56 runs to the total in a record ninth-wicket 100 run partnership with Vikram Solanki
Vikram Solanki
Vikram Singh Solanki is an Indian-born English cricketer, who plays county cricket for Worcestershire. In 2007, he became the 24th Worcestershire batsman to pass 10,000 career runs for the county. He also captained Worcestershire from 2005 to 2010, before resigning mid-season...
before chipping a return catch to Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, when he clocked in at 161.3 km/h in his bowling speed, twice at a cricket match against...
.
England needed to keep the Pakistani run rate
Run rate
In cricket, the run rate , or runs per over is the number of runs a batsman scores in an over of 6 balls. It includes all runs, even the so-called extras awarded due to errors by the bowler. Without extras and overthrows, the maximum run rate is 36 – if every ball were struck for six and, as...
below five an over, however, after setting a target of 231, but Plunkett's seven overs went for 63 - Kamran Akmal
Kamran Akmal
Kamran Akmal is a Pakistani cricketer who has played Tests, ODIs and T20Is for Pakistan as a wicket-keeper.- International career :He is a quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper, who has achieved 6 centuries in Test innings...
taking 39 off the 25 balls Plunkett bowled to him.
Plunkett did not feature in another ODI match until 30 January 2007, against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Australia. He took 3 wickets for 54 runs in 9 overs. He was also picked in the next game against Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
on 2 February 2007 in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
He took 3 wickets for 34 runs off 9.5 overs. Perhaps the highlights of Plunkett's bowling was the wicket of stand in captain and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
. Plunkett bowled Gilchrist with the very first ball of Australia's innings. He also took the wickets of Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
and Glenn McGrath
Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath AM , nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century...
.
As proof of his worth as a tailender, after just 18 ODI games he held a part of both the 8th and 9th wicket partnership records for England.
Twenty20 International cricket
Plunkett made his international Twenty20Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
debut on 15 June 2006 against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
, taking 1-37 from four overs; he did not bat.
Driving ban
In February 2007, Plunkett was banned from driving for twenty months, after being convicted for a drink driving offence in October 2006.Involvement in South Africa
Plunkett signed for the Nashua DolphinsDolphins cricket team
The Sunfoil Dolphins is the name used by the KwaZulu Natal cricket team when it plays in the South African SuperSport Series first class competition; also in the MTN Domestic Championship and Standard Bank Twenty20 limited over competitions...
in November 2007, fellow Durham
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
fast bowler
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
Steve Harmison
Steve Harmison
Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....
signed for Highveld Lions
Highveld Lions cricket team
The Highveld Lions is the name used by the combined Gauteng and North West first class cricket teams in South Africa. The home venues are the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg and Senwes Park in Potchefstroom....
. Harmison and Plunkett actually played against each other in a four day match on 15-18 November 2007.