Alan Hansford

{{Short description|English cricketer}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Alan Hansford

| country = England

| fullname = Alan Roderick Hansford

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1968|10|1|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Cuckfield, Sussex, England

| heightft =

| heightinch =

| heightm =

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Right-arm medium

| role =

| family =

| club1 = Sussex

| year1 = 1989–1992

| clubnumber1 =

| columns = 2

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 10

| runs1 = 109

| bat avg1 = 13.62

| 100s/50s1 = –/–

| top score1 = 29

| deliveries1 = 1,921

| wickets1 = 30

| bowl avg1 = 33.03

| fivefor1 = 1

| tenfor1 = –

| best bowling1 = 5/79

| catches/stumpings1 = 3/–

| column2 = First-class

| matches2 = 32

| runs2 = 49

| bat avg2 = 9.80

| 100s/50s2 = –/–

| top score2 = 13*

| deliveries2 = 1,649

| wickets2 = 30

| bowl avg2 = 43.76

| fivefor2 = 1

| tenfor2 = –

| best bowling2 = 5/32

| catches/stumpings2 = 3/–

| date = 14 March

| year = 2012

| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/14380.html Cricinfo

}}

Alan Roderick Hansford (born 1 October 1968) is a former English first-class cricketer. A right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace, he was born at Cuckfield, Sussex.

Hansford made his debut in List A cricket for the Combined Universities against Surrey in the 1989 Benson & Hedges Cup. He played five matches for the Combined Universities side in that competition,{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/12/12153/List_A_Matches.html|title=List A Matches played by Alan Hansford|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 March 2012}} which captained by Michael Atherton, famously reached the quarter-final of the competition by defeating professional first-class opposition along the way. Having played for the Sussex Second XI since 1987, it was in the 1989 season that he made his first-class debut for Sussex against Cambridge University at Hove, taking figures of 4/46 and 4/29 during the match.{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/51/51437.html|title=Sussex v Cambridge University, 1989|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 March 2012}} During his time at Sussex, he featured infrequently in first-class cricket, making just nine further appearances, the last of which came against Hampshire in the 1992 County Championship.{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/12/12153/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Alan Hansford|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 March 2012}} Primarily a bowler, Hansford took 30 wickets in his ten first-class appearances, which came at an average of 33.03, with best figures of 5/79.{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/12/12153/f_Bowling_by_Team.html|title=First-class Bowling For Each Team by Alan Hansford|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 March 2012}} These figures were his only first-class five wicket haul, and came against Hampshire in 1989.{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/51/51808.html|title=Sussex v Hampshire, 1989 County Championship|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 March 2012}}

He first featured in List A cricket for Sussex in his debut season, making his debut in that format for the county in the Refuge Assurance League against Hampshire. He featured in a total of seventeen List A matches for the county in 1989 and 1990, including taking what would be his only five wicket haul in one-day cricket, against Gloucestershire in 1989.{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/51/51804.html|title=Sussex v Gloucestershire, 1989 Refuge Assurance League|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 March 2012}} In 1991, he once again featured for the Combined Universities in the Benson & Hedges Cup, making four appearances. Further appearances in that format for Sussex followed, with Hansford making five further appearances for the county, the last of which came against Northamptonshire in the Sunday League. In total, Hansford made 23 List A appearances for Sussex, taking 24 wickets at an average of 42.54.{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/12/12153/a_Bowling_by_Team.html|title=List A Bowling For Each Team by Alan Hansford|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 March 2012}}

Michael Atherton later wrote that Hansford was the only gay cricketer he had come across, in response to a letter from Hansford in which he wrote "there can't be too many gay accountants who dismissed you twice in a first-class match" (in reference to Hansford's first-class debut against Cambridge University, in which he dismissed Atherton twice).{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/14380.html|title=Player profile: Alan Hansford|last=Williamson|first=Martin|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|accessdate=14 March 2012}}