Born in Bordeaux but educated at the Oratory School in Berkshire, Benny Howell is a top-order batsman and handy medium-pacer. He'd been on Hampshire's books for several years - having come through their academy - before his first team debut in limited-overs cricket in 2010. He travelled with Hampshire to the Caribbean T20 in January 2011 and made his first-class debut against Lancashire later that summer, scoring 71 in the second innings. But that would be his only first-class match for Hampshire as he was released at the end of the 2011 season.

He tried to restart his career with Gloucestershire and made his 2nd XI debut in April 2012, making a double century at Bristol. His performance earned him an immediate first-team debut at Canterbury, where he made 44 and 10 in a drawn game.

Howell holds both English and Australian passports - his mother is Australian and his parents live Down Under - and he spends his winters playing club cricket in Australia, having started off with clubs such as Melville, former Hampshire coach Paul Terry's old club, and Joondalup in Western Australia before making the move to Victoria, where he plays for the Camberwell Magpies.
ESPNcricinfo Staff