Full Name

Thomas Poynton

Born

November 25, 1989, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Age

34y 115d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Fielding Position

Wicketkeeper

Education

Repton

Personal tragedy struck for Tom Poynton only a few days before the start of the 2014 season when his father Keith died in a car accident while driving a Ferrari loaned out by the club chairman, Chris Grant, who had bought it that day. Tom, who was a passenger in the car, also suffered serious leg injuries. It was an emotional period for the entire Derbyshire club and Poynton, who missed the entire season and needed an ankle operation, found a role for Derbyshire promoting community projects.

He returned to indoor training in November with the intention of furthering his cricketing career and played five Championship matches to general delight, but he was desperately short of runs, averaging only 5. He retired on medical grounds midway through the 2016 season because of "significant deterioration" of his damaged ankle, leaving Derbyshire to express sympathy for someone their chief executive, Simon Storey, termed "a natural leader".

A young and highly-regarded wicketkeeper with a talent that has been nurtured by Derbyshire since he was 11, Poynton made his first-team debut during the 2007 Twenty20 group stages when James Pipe was injured. Although his first match lasted just 7.3 overs and in his next outing, against Yorkshire, he scored just three, the county still handed him a Championship debut in July against Middlesex. He made a pair batting at No. 8.

Nonetheless, it was a memorable season which saw him make eight first team appearances in all competitions, impressing with his tidy work behind the stumps enough to see him labelled as a star of the future. He was part of England's Elite Player programme in 2008, and travelled to South Africa with England Under-19 early the following year.

Poynton found more opportunities at first-team level hard to come by. He made four appearances in the Championship in 2010 but the return of Luke Sutton meant he did not figure at all in four-day cricket in 2011. However, Sutton's retirement at the end of that season pushed him to the fore as first choice for 2012 and he seized his chance impressively as one of a crop of young home-grown players in which Derbyshire had put their faith.

Once again, though, he faced competition for his place, this time from Richard Johnson who moved over from Warwickshire, initially on loan but then permanently at the end of 2012. He responded ably, his improvement as a batsman reflected in a maiden century against Northamptonshire, when he and Wayne Madsen shared an epic partnership of 261 that was only 23 runs short of breaking the 102-year-old world record for the ninth wicket. He kept the gloves for the 2013 season, although Johnson, in the side as a specialist batsmen, represented stiff competition.


ESPNcricinfo staff

Tom Poynton Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
FC47708115510618.62286640.3016138710710
List A311941734011.5319389.6300123185
T20s39281027537*15.27242113.630010121711

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
FC471489622/962/9648.0012.0024.0000
List A31------------
T20s39------------

Recent Matches of Tom Poynton

MatchBatWktDateGroundFormat
Derbyshire vs Kent82c/0s & 1c/0s26-Jun-2016CanterburyFC
Derbyshire vs Notts60c/0s24-Jun-2016DerbyT20
Derbyshire vs WORCS3*1c/0s & 1c/0s20-Jun-2016DerbyFC
Derbyshire vs Yorkshire130c/0s19-Jun-2016LeedsT20
Derbyshire vs Warwickshire1*0c/0s17-Jun-2016DerbyT20

Photos of Tom Poynton

Tom Poynton is involved in promoting the India tour game
Stuart Poynter watches as Tom Poynton gets bowled
Samit Patel plays a shot as Tom Poynton looks on
Chesney Hughes and Tom Poynton celebrate a wicket
Tom Poynton directs behind the stumps
Varun Chopra was unbeaten on 48 at the close