Full Name

Matthew James J Critchley

Born

August 13, 1996, Preston, Lancashire

Age

27y 219d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Legbreak

Playing Role

Allrounder

Education

St Michael's High School, Chorley

A rangy legspinning allrounder, Matt Critchley enjoyed a breakthrough summer in 2021. A tally of 1000 first-class runs, alongside 32 wickets, saw Critchley's name enter discussions as a potential candidate for England's middle order. It also alerted other counties to his potential, and he subsequently turned down an improved contract offer from Derbyshire, where he had spent seven seasons in the first team, to take up the challenge of Division One cricket with Essex.

Critchley became Derbyshire's youngest century-maker in only his second first-class match, and his promise as a spinner was underlined by praise from Stuart MacGill, who touted him for England after mentoring him on an ECB placement in Sydney. He was called up to England Lions - the first Derbyshire player to win such recognition - in 2018 and demonstrated his abilities as a T20 finisher the same year when blasting 19 runs off the final over against Yorkshire to seal victory in a Blast match at Chesterfield.

Critchley began life as a Lancashire age group player and his father was a Level 3 coach - he once put his development down to "a lot of hours in the cold, bowling at my dad". But he failed to win a place at the Old Trafford academy, with Matt Parkinson and Rob Jones ahead of him, and moved to Derbyshire.

His first-class debut came in 2015, and a week later he scored 137 not out on his home ground against Northamptonshire. His emergence was a rare bright spot for Derbyshire as a young side struggled. A special performance at Lord's attracted headlines in 2018 when he became Derbyshire's youngest century-maker at the ground, outdoing Stan Worthington whose record had stood for 90 years. He starred with the ball, too, with ten wickets in the match against Northants (again) to help Derbyshire pull off their first win at Chesterfield for 10 years.

The wicket of Steven Smith in an Australia tour match was a rare highlight in 2019, when he struggled with bat and ball, but a series of impressive all-round showings in the Bob Willis Trophy the following summer set him up for a career-defining 2021.
ESPNcricinfo staff

Matt Critchley Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
FC94160144690137*32.12807758.0672658929620
List A45361069464*26.69672103.2702532060
T20s12310323180380*22.531453124.080513062390

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
FC94127929561261566/7310/19439.263.9559.5631
List A454115601713314/484/4855.256.5850.3100
T20s123109193125711045/285/2824.727.9818.5110

Recent Matches of Matt Critchley

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Essex vs Northants17 & 13/4226-Sep-2023NorthamptonFC
Essex vs Hampshire99 & 31/38 & 3/4819-Sep-2023ChelmsfordFC
Essex vs Middlesex36 & 652/1704-Sep-2023ChelmsfordFC
Spirit vs Phoenix6--24-Aug-2023BirminghamT20
Spirit vs Fire21--20-Aug-2023CardiffT20

Photos of Matt Critchley

Matt Critchley bowled Tom Kohler-Cadmore as Essex tightened their grip
Matt Critchley and Simon Harmer embrace as Hampshire's Nathan Ellis sinks to his haunches
Matt Critchley drilled a final-over six as Essex beat Hampshire
Matt Critchley added a half-century to his first-innings ton
Matt Critchley is on a roll for Essex
Aaron Finch and Matt Critchley steadied Renegades' chase