Robert Croft

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Robert Croft

| image = Robert Croft.jpg

| country = England

| fullname = Robert Damien Bale Croft

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|5|25|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Morriston, Swansea, Wales

| nickname = Crofty

| heightcm = 170

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Right-arm off break

| role = All rounder

| international = true

| testdebutdate = 22 August

| testdebutyear = 1996

| testdebutagainst = Pakistan

| testcap = 582

| lasttestdate = 2 August

| lasttestyear = 2001

| lasttestagainst = Australia

| odidebutdate = 29 August

| odidebutyear = 1996

| odidebutagainst = Pakistan

| odicap = 138

| lastodidate = 21 June

| lastodiyear = 2001

| lastodiagainst = Australia

| odishirt =

| club1 = Glamorgan

| year1 = {{nowrap|1989–2012}}

| clubnumber1 = 10

| columns = 4

| column1 = Test

| matches1 = 21

| runs1 = 421

| bat avg1 = 16.19

| 100s/50s1 = 0/0

| top score1 = 37*

| deliveries1 = 4,619

| wickets1 = 49

| bowl avg1 = 37.24

| fivefor1 = 1

| tenfor1 = 0

| best bowling1 = 5/95

| catches/stumpings1 = 10/–

| column2 = ODI

| matches2 = 50

| runs2 = 345

| bat avg2 = 14.37

| 100s/50s2 = 0/0

| top score2 = 32

| deliveries2 = 2,466

| wickets2 = 45

| bowl avg2 = 38.73

| fivefor2 = 0

| tenfor2 = 0

| best bowling2 = 3/51

| catches/stumpings2 = 11/–

| column3 = FC

| matches3 = 407

| runs3 = 12,880

| bat avg3 = 26.17

| 100s/50s3 = 8/54

| top score3 = 143

| deliveries3 = 89,156

| wickets3 = 1,175

| bowl avg3 = 35.08

| fivefor3 = 51

| tenfor3 = 9

| best bowling3 = 8/66

| catches/stumpings3 = 177/–

| column4 = LA

| matches4 = 408

| runs4 = 6,490

| bat avg4 = 23.42

| 100s/50s4 = 4/32

| top score4 = 143

| deliveries4 = 18,511

| wickets4 = 411

| bowl avg4 = 32.62

| fivefor4 = 1

| tenfor4 = 0

| best bowling4 = 6/20

| catches/stumpings4 = 94/–

| date = 15 June

| year = 2022

| source = http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/10881.html Cricinfo

}}

Robert Damien Bale Croft {{post-nominals|MBE}} (born 25 May 1970) is a former Welsh cricketer who played international cricket for the England cricket team. He is an off-spin bowler who played for Glamorgan and captained the county from 2003 to 2006. He retired from first class cricket at the end of the 2012 season, having played county cricket for 23 seasons. He commentates on cricket occasionally for Sky Sports.

Early life and education

Croft was born on 25 May 1970 in Morriston, Swansea. He was educated at St John Lloyd Roman Catholic Comprehensive School, Llanelli. He played rugby union as a scrum half for Llanelli RFC Under-11s. He studied at Swansea Metropolitan University.

Cricketing career

He made his England debut against Pakistan in 1996, and did enough to earn a touring place to Zimbabwe and New Zealand. In Christchurch, he took his Test best figures of 5–95 and his winter figures were a highly impressive 182.1–53–340–18. He played the first five tests of the 1997 Ashes series but was dropped for the final test, replaced by Phil Tufnell, after averaging 54 with the ball and showing a weakness to short-pitched fast bowling as a batsman.

Around this time, Croft was involved in what ESPNCricinfo calls "an unsavoury, but in truth pretty harmless, pushing and finger-wagging incident" with Mark Ilott during the NatWest Trophy semi-final against Essex,{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/15388.html |title=Mark Ilott |accessdate=29 December 2017 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}} which Glamorgan narrowly lost.{{Cite web|url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1997/ENG_LOCAL/NWT/KNOCK-OUTS/ESSEX_GLAM_NWT-SF_12-13AUG1997.html|title=SF: Essex v Glamorgan at Chelmsford, 12-13 Aug 1997|accessdate=29 December 2017 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}} However Croft had a happier experience that year in helping his county to their first County Championship in 28 years, Croft taking 54 wickets in Glamorgan's campaign at an average of 23.31.{{Cite web|url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1997/ENG_LOCAL/STATS/CC-STATS/CC_AVS_GLAM.html|title=1997 County Championship Averages Glamorgan|accessdate=29 December 2017 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}}

Croft toured the West Indies with England that winter, but in spite of taking six wickets in the fourth Test, it was the only Test he played that series.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-tour-of-west-indies-1997-98-61751/west-indies-vs-england-4th-test-63786/full-scorecard |title=Full Scorecard of West Indies v England, 4th test, 1997-8|accessdate=29 December 2017 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}} Restored to the England Test team the following summer, his last-wicket stand with Angus Fraser in the third Test of the 1998 series against South Africa saved England from an innings defeat, Croft personally scoring his highest Test score, 37 not out. Wisden observed that "England found an unlikely hero in Croft, who made up for three wicketless Tests by keeping his end intact for more than three hours".{{Cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/england-v-south-africa-1998-151922|title=England v South Africa 1998|accessdate=29 December 2017 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}} Croft was dropped for the next Test, although his innings helped to shift the momentum in the series, which England won. He enjoyed another relatively successful tour in Sri Lanka early in 2001, taking nine wickets at 28.66 as England won the three-match Test series.{{cite web|url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2000-01/ENG_IN_SL/STATS/ENG_IN_SL_JAN-MAR2001_TEST_AVS.html|title=England in Sri Lanka, 2000/01 Test Series Averages|website=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=18 March 2022}} In general, Croft was a more effective Test bowler overseas, where he took 35 wickets in 9 Tests at 24.65, than in England, where he took 14 wickets in 12 Tests at 68.71.{{cite web|url=https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/10881.html?class=1;template=results;type=allround

|title=Statistics/RDB Croft/Test matches|publisher=ESPNCricinfo|access-date=13 June 2022}}

His final Test match was the third Ashes Test of 2001 at Trent Bridge where he bowled just 3 overs. He was selected for the subsequent tour of India but he withdrew because of safety fears{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/109450.html|title=Caddick and Croft unavailable for India tour|website=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=18 October 2018}} and was also selected for the 2003/04 tour of Sri Lanka but failed to play. After returning home, he announced his international retirement to concentrate on the captaincy of Glamorgan.

On 12 September 2006, after just two County Championship victories in 15 games thus far in the season, he announced his resignation from the captaincy, and was succeeded by David Hemp.

Exactly a year later, he passed 1,000 first-class wickets after dismissing Niall O'Brien; he became the first Welsh cricketer to take the double of 10,000 first-class career runs and 1,000 first-class career wickets.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Articles/7/7362.html|title=The Home of CricketArchive|website=Cricketarchive.com|access-date=18 October 2018}} As of March 2022, he is the last cricketer anywhere to achieve this feat in first-class cricket, and with the increasing focus of higher-ability cricketers on limited-over forms of the game, he is likely to remain the last.{{cite web|url=https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/282784.html|title=Records/first class matches/all round records/10000 runs and 1000 wickets|website=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=18 March 2022}} In November 2007, he joined voices calling for a "clampdown" on Twenty20 problems with abusive crowds, after suffering abusive calls at Taunton Cricket Ground.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/7104168.stm Croft supports Twenty20 clampdown] BBC News retrieved 20 November 2007 On 1 August 2010 he got his first hat-trick against Gloucestershire to help Glamorgan win the match. It also made him the first Glamorgan spinner to take a hat-trick in 46 years.

Croft was once honoured as a druid at the Welsh cultural event, the National Eisteddfod.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6041910.stm|title=Plan for bardic founder memorial|date=12 October 2006|access-date=18 October 2018|publisher=BBC News}}

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cricket.{{London Gazette |issue=60367 |date=29 December 2012 |page=16 |supp=y}}

In October 2018, Croft left his role as Glamorgan head coach.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45491721|title=Robert Croft leaves Glamorgan head coach role|date=17 October 2018|access-date=18 October 2018|publisher=BBC}}

England tours

England 'A'

West Indies 1992
South Africa 1993/94

England

Zimbabwe / New Zealand 1996/97
Sharjah / West Indies 1997/98
Australia 1998/99
Sri Lanka 2000/01 and 2003/04.

Team honours

Glamorgan (1989 – 2012)

Champions

County Championship: 1997
National League: 1993, 2002, 2004
National League Division 2: 2001

Individual honours

Glamorgan Cap: 1992
Glamorgan Young Player of the Year: 1990, 1992
Glamorgan Player of the Year: 1996, 2003, 2004, 2007
St. Helen's Balconiers Player of the Year: 2007
Glamorgan benefit season: 2000
Glamorgan captain: 2003–2006
The Weatherall Award: 2004 (for the leading all-rounder in English first-class game)
Reached 1000 first class wickets for Glamorgan

Career best performances

class=wikitable style="font-size:90%"
rowspan="1"\| !colspan="4" rowspan="1"\|Batting !colspan="4" rowspan="1"\|Bowling
!Score !Fixture !Venue !Season !Score !Fixture !Venue !Season
Tests \|align="center"\|37* \|England v South Africa \|Manchester \|align="center"\|1998 \|align="center"\|5–95 \|England v New Zealand \|Christchurch \|align="center"\|1997
ODI \|align="center"\|32 \|England v Sri Lanka \|Perth \|align="center"\|1999 \|align="center"\|3–51 \|England v South Africa \|The Oval \|align="center"\|1998
FC \|align="center"\|143 \|Glamorgan v Somerset \|Taunton \|align="center"\|1995 \|align="center"\|8–66 \|Glamorgan v Warwickshire \|Swansea \|align="center"\|1992
LA \|align="center"\|143 \|Glamorgan Dragons v Lincolnshire \|Lincoln \|align="center"\|2004 \|align="center"\|6–20 \|Glamorgan v Worcestershire \|Cardiff \|align="center"\|1994
T20 \|align="center"\|62* \|Glamorgan Dragons v Gloucestershire Gladiators \|Cardiff \|align="center"\|2005 \|align="center"\|3–9 \|Glamorgan Dragons v Somerset \|Cardiff \|align="center"\|2011

class=wikitable style="font-size:90%"

rowspan="1"|

!colspan="4" rowspan="1"|Batting

!colspan="4" rowspan="1"|Bowling

!Score

!Fixture

!Venue

!Season

!Score

!Fixture

!Venue

!Season

Tests

|align="center"|37*

|England v South Africa

|Manchester

|align="center"|1998

|align="center"|5–95

|England v New Zealand

|align="center"|1997

|align="center"|32

|align="center"|1999

|align="center"|3–51

|England v South Africa

|The Oval

|align="center"|1998

|align="center"|143

|Glamorgan v Somerset

|Taunton

|align="center"|1995

|align="center"|8–66

|Glamorgan v Warwickshire

|Swansea

|align="center"|1992

|align="center"|143

|Glamorgan Dragons v Lincolnshire

|Lincoln

|align="center"|2004

|align="center"|6–20

|Glamorgan v Worcestershire

|Cardiff

|align="center"|1994

T20

|align="center"|62*

|Glamorgan Dragons v Gloucestershire Gladiators

|Cardiff

|align="center"|2005

|align="center"|3–9

|Glamorgan Dragons v Somerset

|Cardiff

|align="center"|2011

Achievements

First Welsh cricketer to score 10,000 runs and take 1,000 wickets in first-class cricket (2007)
Elected to the Gorsedd of Bards

Books

Bennett, Androw and Croft, Robert (1995) Dyddiadur Troellwr Y Lolfa, Talybont, Dyfed {{ISBN|0-86243-358-4}}
Steen, Rob with Croft, Robert and Elliott, Matthew (1997) Poms and cobbers : the Ashes 1997 : an inside view Andre Deutsch, London {{ISBN|0-233-99210-3}}