Rikki Clarke

Rikki Clarke

Personal information
Full name	Rikki Clarke
Born	(1981-09-29) 29 September 1981 Orsett, England
Nickname	Clarkey, Crouchy
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 620)	21 October 2003 v Bangladesh
Last Test	1 November 2003 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 174)	17 June 2003 v Pakistan
Last ODI	5 September 2006 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.	20
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002–2007	Surrey (squad no. 9)
2008	Derbyshire
2008-	Warwickshire
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODIs	FC	LA
Matches	2	20	96	132
Runs scored	96	144	4988	2437
Batting average	32.00	11.07	36.67	24.86
100s/50s	0/1	0/0	11/21	0/12
Top score	55	39	214	98*
Balls bowled	174	469	8339	3269
Wickets	4	11	132	80
Bowling average	15.00	37.72	43.21	38.26
5 wickets in innings	0	0	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	2/7	2/28	4/21	4/49
Catches/stumpings	1/–	11/–	127/	57/–
Source: cricinfo.com, 27 July 2009

Rikki Clarke (born 29 September 1981 in Orsett, Essex) is an English cricketer, currently playing for Warwickshire. He was educated at Broadwater School [1] and then Godalming College.

Domestic career

Surrey

After some fine performances in Surrey's championship-winning Second XI team in 2001, Clarke quickly established himself in the first team the following season. He made an unbeaten 107 in his debut first-class innings, against Cambridge UCCE and also scored 153 not out against Somerset, ending the season 711 runs at an average of over 50. He was awarded the Cricket Writers' Club's Young Cricketer of the Year award and the NBC Denis Compton Award for his achievements in 2002.

His domestic form suffered in 2004 as he could manage a first-class batting average of only 31.17 and just nine wickets all season. His one-day performances were even worse, as he passed fifty just once in 11 innings. In a 50 overs a side match played on the 29th April Clarke hit 82 runs off only 28 balls. It included 9 Fours and 6 Sixes. It helped Surrey get to 494-5 against Gloucestershire.

In the 2007 season, Clarke played only ten first-class matches for Surrey, scoring 301 runs and 15 wickets.

Derbyshire

In October 2007, it was confirmed Clarke had signed for second division Derbyshire as captain for the 2008 season. The move came after it became increasingly difficult for him to secure a place in Surrey's first team. Clarke said of the move:

[Derbyshire] is looking to go forward and that really excited me. The chance to be captain played a part in my decision because I have always wanted to be a leader but I was more interested in where Derbyshire want to go. I am looking at this as a long-term move. I was at Surrey since I was a young lad and it's always difficult to leave but I felt I needed a fresh start. I could have gone to other counties that are regarded as bigger but I see this as one of the best career moves I have made

—Rikki Clarke, October 2007

Clarke hoped that the move to Derbyshire would improve his chance of being selected for England. Despite Clarke's high hopes, he experienced a poor run of form in the 2008 season that led to him quitting the captaincy. When he made his decision, he was averaging 21 with the bat and 38 with the ball from eight first-class matches. The only first-class half century of his tenure as captain was a score of 81 against Warwickshire in May. At one point, his form was so bad that he dropped himself.

Warwickshire

After an unsuccessful year at Derbyshire, Clarke signed a three-year deal with Warwickshire in September 2008. Warwickshire had been interested in Clarke for a long time and Ashley Giles, Warwickshire's director of cricket, said:

I played with Rikki for England in Bangladesh and have always regarded him as a talented and exciting cricketer. That talent is unfulfilled at present but I am sure there is more to come from him. He has bags of raw ability and it's up to me and the rest of the coaching team to mould that ability into the top-class cricketer that he is capable of being".

—Ashley Giles, September 2008

After a number of lowly displays for his new side, Clarke came in to prominence in a game in late April against Hampshire at Edgbaston. Clarke took 2-63 in the Hampshire first innings, and then went on to score a lusty 112 from 86 balls in a Warwickshire reply of 630-8 Declared.

International career

Some more good performances in the early part of 2003 brought Clarke his England debut, for the One Day International against Pakistan at Old Trafford. Although he took a wicket with his first ball in ODIs (the first Englishman to achieve this feat for three decades) he had a poor match overall, being bowled behind his legs for a duck after playing a totally misjudged sweep and conceding 41 runs from his 7.2 overs. He was retained for the rest of the summer's ODIs despite a total of just three wickets and a high score of only 37.

A groin injury to Andrew Flintoff led to Clarke being drafted into the squad for the 2003/04 tour of Bangladesh and on this tour he made his Test debut, at Dhaka. An undistinguished match was followed by a better performance at Chittagong where he made 55 in the first innings and a quickfire 27 from 16 balls in the second helped set up England's match-winning declaration. He also picked up three wickets, returning a notable analysis of 7-4-7-2 in the Bangladeshis' first innings. He played in only the first of the ODIs against Sri Lanka, a disastrous ten-wicket defeat, and was not selected for any other international games on that tour.

At the end of that winter, England toured the West Indies, and Clarke was picked for five of the seven ODIs. He failed completely, not reaching double figures in any of his four innings and taking 3-108 from the 18 overs he was allowed. By the time the tour finally finished in early May, Clarke's international career looked in serious jeopardy, but he was given one more chance by injuries to Flintoff and Marcus Trescothick early in the summer of 2004. Clarke was included for the Leeds ODI against the West Indians, but another failure (conceding 30 runs from four overs) followed, and the selectors had seen enough: Clarke was dropped and has not played for England since.

He enjoyed a better 2005, however, and earned a trip to the Academy.

However, in 2006 his luck changed. After averaging 64.66 [including a career best 214] he was drafted into England's one-day squad to play Pakistan. Despite a decent 39 in difficult conditions at Lords he failed with the bat only scoring 45 runs in 3 matches. Like in the West Indies he bowled poorly, overall conceding 64 runs of 10.5 overs with only 1 wicket. He was included in the 2006 Champions Trophy but did not play. He also failed to make the England 'A' tour.

Thought to be a big talent, Clarke has so far failed to perform to the level expected by his admirers.

External links

• Player profile: Rikki Clarke from ESPNcricinfo
• Rikki Clarke at Cricket Archive

Sporting positions
Preceded by Simon Katich	Derbyshire cricket captains 2008	Succeeded by Chris Rogers