Richard Oliver

England

Full name Richard Kenneth Oliver

Born November 14, 1989, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Current age 31 years 64 days

Major teams Shropshire, Worcestershire, Worcestershire 2nd XI

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
First-class	20	36	0	1052	179	29.22	1458	72.15	2	5	161	2	10
List A	9	9	0	66	14	7.33	99	66.66	0	0	8	0	4
T20s	23	22	1	472	77	22.47	373	126.54	0	2	57	9	6

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
First-class	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
List A	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
T20s	23	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Career statistics

First-class debut	Worcestershire v Glamorgan at Worcester, Jun 29-Jul 2, 2014 scorecard
Last First-class	Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire at Worcester, Aug 7-10, 2015 scorecard
List A debut	Worcestershire v Essex at Worcester, Jul 27, 2014 scorecard
Last List A	Derbyshire v Worcestershire at Derby, Aug 18, 2015 scorecard
T20s debut	Durham v Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street, May 16, 2014 scorecard
Last T20s	Derbyshire v Worcestershire at Derby, Jul 17, 2015 scorecard

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
21*	Surrey XI	v Aboriginal	The Oval	7 Jun 2018	Other T20
0, 0/9, 9	Shropshire	v Wiltshire	Devizes	14 Aug 2016	Other
0, 27	Shropshire	v Cheshire	Nantwich	31 Jul 2016	Other
20, 0/22, 5	Shropshire	v Berkshire	Shifnal	17 Jul 2016	Other
1/13, 14, 35	Shropshire	v Cornwall	Bridgnorth	3 Jul 2016	Other
28, 0/18	Shropshire	v Oxfordshire	Aston Rowant	19 Jun 2016	Other
0, 8*	Shropshire	v Dorset	Whitchurch	5 Jun 2016	Other
2	Shropshire	v Staffs	Leek	22 May 2016	Other OD
16	Shropshire	v Cheshire	Oswestry	15 May 2016	Other OD
80	Shropshire	v Wales MC	Abergavenny	1 May 2016	Other OD

Profile

A less passionate, less stubborn fellow might have given up on a career as a player. But not Richard Oliver. After spending eight years as a professional in club cricket - the summers in England, the winters in Australia - "bashing the door down" (as he put it) in the hope of attracting a county, he finally won a break.

Kevin Sharp, standing in as Worcestershire second XI coach for the unwell Damian D'Oliveira, phoned Oliver and invited him to play for the county's second XI. Sharp knew Oliver form his time coaching Shropshire and was a player short for a game.

Oliver responded by scoring two centuries for Worcestershire's second team against Derbyshire, one in limited-overs cricket and another in the longer form of the game, and then another against Lincolnshire in a limited-overs game for Shropshire.

From there, he was quickly promoted about contracted players such as Tom Fell and Joe Leach for Worcestershire's first T20 game of the season. Suddenly, from opening the batting with Omar Ali for Shropshire, Oliver was opening the batting with Omar's brother, Moeen, for Worcestershire.

It proved an inspired selection. He responded by top-scoring for his side with 43 from 31 balls against Durham and followed it with an innings of 34 from 23 balls against a Lancashire side including James Anderson. Indeed, Anderson was seen giving Oliver some of his infamous "advice" after taking some punishment. He followed that with 77 from 43 balls over Northants, the reigning T20 Champions, and was soon afterwards offered the professional contract he had always wanted. He bought a caravan to live in during the summer months and stayed close to the New Road ground.

An unusually aggressive left-hander, Oliver made a maiden first-class century as an opening batsman against Gloucestershire a few weeks later and ended the season as a first choice selection in all formats.

But life in Division One proved harder. While he made one fine - and uncharacteristically slow - century against Sussex, he was dropped from the Championship side towards the end of the season while averaging 22.45. Meanwhile he failed to pass 14 in the List A competition and made only one 50 in the T20 Blast.

Worcestershire offered a new deal at the end of the 2015 season, but on the condition that Oliver remained in England to work on his game. For a man with such deep attachments in Australia, however, that proved a condition too far and he declined the deal. George Dobell

Richard Oliver

England

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