Gareth Batty

Gareth Batty

Personal information
Full name	Gareth Jon Batty
Born	13 October 1977 (1977-10-13) Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Nickname	"Boom Boom"
Height	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm off spin
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 619)	21 October 2003 v Bangladesh
Last Test	3 June 2005 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 171)	13 December 2002 v Australia
Last ODI	27 March 2009 v West Indies
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2010–	Surrey
2002–2009	Worcestershire
1998–2001	Surrey
1997	Yorkshire
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	7	10	135	185
Runs scored	144	30	4,302	1,969
Batting average	20.57	5.00	25.60	16.97
100s/50s	–/–	–/–	2/22	–/5
Top score	38	17	133	83*
Balls bowled	1,394	440	25,501	7,265
Wickets	11	5	368	160
Bowling average	66.63	73.20	33.64	34.07
5 wickets in innings	–	–	15	1
10 wickets in match	–	n/a	1	n/a
Best bowling	3/55	2/40	7/52	5/35
Catches/stumpings	3/–	4/–	91/–	66/–
Source: CricketArchive, 3 October 2009

Gareth Jon Batty (born 13 October 1977, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England) is an English cricketer, more specifically a spin-bowler. He is the younger brother of the former Yorkshire and Somerset off-spinner, Jeremy Batty.

Life and career

The off-spinner has been largely backup to Ashley Giles throughout his career, though he did play four Tests in the English tour of the subcontinent in 2003, as conditions favoured the inclusion of a second spinner in a team. He was picked the tour of the West Indies in 2003/04. Batty was the bowler Brian Lara faced when he scored his world record 400th run in the fourth Test Match in Antigua. He was picked as second spinner for the South African tour the next season.

The selectors continued to show faith in him, picking him for the two Tests against Bangladesh in 2005 when Giles suffered a hip injury - in the first, he did not bat, did not bowl, and but for Bangladeshi resilience in the second innings, he might have gone through the entire series without bowling. He has gone down to the spinning pecking order due to the emergence of Monty Panesar and re-emergence of Graeme Swann.

County career

Batty began his county career with his native Yorkshire, after playing for England Under 19's, making his County Championship debut in 1997. Due to lack of opportunities he transferred to Surrey in 1998 where he played mainly one-day games. He joined Worcestershire in 2002 where he became the main spinner and came to prominence with the national team.

Batty has been sponsored by Slazenger for the past five years and currently uses the SX model, which features a pronounced bow, suiting his aggressive style. His bats weigh 2.8 lbs (1.2 kg).

Batty was selected for the England Lions squad to tour New Zealand in the winter of 2008. In March 2009, Batty was called up to the England ODI and Twenty20 squad to tour the West Indies. He replaced spinning all-rounder Samit Patel, who dropped due to fitness concerns, and Swann who returned home after the Test series to undergo an operation on his elbow.

In July 2009, he announced his intention to leave Worcestershire at the end of the 2009 cricket season to seek fresh opportunities elsewhere. He rejoined Surrey on a three year contract.

External links

• Player profile: Gareth Batty from CricketArchive
• Player profile: Gareth Batty from ESPNcricinfo