Sam Billings

Sam Billings
Personal information
Full name Sam William Billings
Born (1991-06-15) 15 June 1991
Pembury, Kent, England
Nickname Bilbo, Billo, Rupert[1]
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Batting style Right-handed
Role Wicket-keeper, Batsman
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 242) 9 June 2015 v New Zealand
Last ODI 20 June 2015 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no. 7
T20I debut (cap 71) 23 June 2015 v New Zealand
Last T20I 21 February 2016 v South Africa
T20I shirt no. 7
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2011–present Kent
2011–2012 Loughborough MCCU
2016 Islamabad United
2016 Delhi Daredevils
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA
Matches 5 6 38 52
Runs scored 90 99 1,653 1,600
Batting average 22.50 16.50 31.18 43.24
100s/50s 0/0 0/1 2/9 3/11
Top score 41 53 131 143
Balls bowled – – 1 –
Wickets – – 0 –
Bowling average – – – –
5 wickets in innings – – – –
10 wickets in match n/a n/a – n/a
Best bowling – – – –
Catches/stumpings 1/– 5/1 99/8 37/6
Source: Cricinfo, 3 May 2016

Sam William Billings (born 15 June 1991) is an English cricketer. Billings is a right-handed batsman who fields as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Pembury, Kent and plays for Kent County Cricket Club. Billings has also appeared in limited overs formats for England.

Early and personal life

Billings was born in Pembury, Kent and grew up on his family's farm in north Kent.[2] He developed as a good all-round sportsman, playing tennis for Kent and being offered a trial for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. He also played racquets, squash and rugby.[2][3] His grandfather, Ron Billings, was a racquets champion and his cousin, Tom Billings, is a world ranked player of the game.[2][3] Billings attributes racquets with helping to develop his batting skills, in particular his hand-eye coordination.[3]

Billings attended Haileybury College in Hertfordshire, appearing regularly for their cricket First XI throughout his school career. He studied for a degree in Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University.[1]

Early career

Billings made his first-class debut for Loughborough MCCU against Northamptonshire in 2011. He made a further first-class appearance for the team in 2011, against Leicestershire.[4] In his four first-class matches for Loughborough MCCU, he scored 321 runs at an average of 45.85, with a high score of 131.[5] This score came on debut against Northamptonshire.[6]

Kent career

Whilst at university Billings was also a member of the Kent squad, and he made his debut for the county in a first-class match against Loughborough MCCU.[4] In the 2011 season, he also made his List A debut for Kent against the Netherlands in the 2011 Clydesdale Bank 40, standing in for regular wicket-keeper Geraint Jones. Billings made three further List A appearances in the 2011 season,[7] as well as playing in four matches in the Friends Provident t20.[8] In 2013, Billings was still very much understudy to Geraint Jones, but was first choice in Kent's 2013 Friends Life t20 campaign,[9] and at the end of the season kept wicket in the County Championship.[10]

Billings became the first choice wicket keeper for Kent in the 2014 season and was awarded his county cap in August 2015.[11] He played for the MCC in the champion county match in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of the 2015 season before scoring 693 runs at an average of 29.80 in the 2015 County Championship season and making his England One Day and T20 debuts. In January 2016 Billings signed a contract extension with Kent.[12]

International career

Billings represented the England Lions cricket team in the 2015 off-season in South Africa, making his debut and scoring 53 against a Gauteng Invitation XI.[13][14] He was named in the provisional squad for the England cricket team before the 2015 Cricket World Cup, replacing the injured Craig Kieswetter,[15] but did not feature in the final squad for the tournament.

Billings made his One Day International debut against New Zealand as a batsman in June 2015.[16] He was trapped lbw by fellow debutant for New Zealand Mitchell Santner for 3 runs.[16] Billings played in all five of the matches in the series, all as a specialist batsman, making his highest score of 41 in the final match. He made his Twenty20 International debut in the same series on 23 June 2015, hitting a quick fire 21 as England won by 56 runs.[17]

Billings made his England debut as a wicketkeeper in the first Twenty20 International against Pakistan in Dubai in November 2015. He scored 53 runs, reaching his fifty in 24 balls, before being run out off the last ball of the England innings. He took two catches and completed a stumping during the Pakistan innings as England won by 14 runs.[18][19][20] He was adjudged man of the match for his performance during the match.[21]

In February 2016 England selected Billings in their squad for the 2016 World Twenty20 competition. Billings did not make an appearance for England during the competition, other than as a substitute fielder.[22]

Twenty20 franchise leagues

In December 2015 Billings was selected by Islamabad United in the 2016 Pakistan Super League draft.[23] The tournament took place in the United Arab Emirates in February 2016 and was the inaugural season of the competition. Billings played in five matches for Islamabad, scoring 34 runs. Billings was purchased by the Delhi Daredevils in the 2016 Indian Premier League auction in February 2016 for £30,000.[24][25] Billings scored 54 runs on his debut for Delhi, helping the team to a victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.[26][27]

Career best performances

as of 3 May 2016

Batting
Score Fixture Venue Season
FC 131 Loughborough MCCU v Northamptonshire Loughborough 2011
LA 143 Kent Spitfires v Derbyshire Falcons Canterbury 2012
T20 61* England Lions v Pakistan A Dubai 2015

References

  1. 1 2 "Player profile: Sam Billings". www.loughboroughmccu.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 The inevitable rise of Billings, ESPN cricinfo, 2015-01-31. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  3. 1 2 3 Sam Billings looks to De Villiers’ method as he prepares for England debut, The Guardian, 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  4. 1 2 "First-Class Matches played by Sam Billings". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Sam Billings". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "Loughborough MCCU v Northamptonshire, 2011". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "List A Matches played by Sam Billings". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Twenty20 Matches played by Sam Billings". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "Sam Billings aiming to seize FLt20 opportunity". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "Kent replace Geraint Jones with Sam Billings". The Times. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  11. ↑ Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sam Billings awarded county caps, Kent County Cricket Club, 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  12. ↑ England's Sam Billings signs Kent contract extension, BBC Sport, 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  13. ↑ Riley and Billings named in England Lions squads, Canterbury Times, 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  14. ↑ Jonathan Trott hits unbeaten 79 in England Lions draw against Gauteng, The Guardian, 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  15. ↑ Sam Billings added to England's provisional World Cup squad, BBC sport website, 2014-12-12. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  16. 1 2 New Zealand tour of England, 1st ODI: England v New Zealand at Birmingham, Jun 9, 2015, ESPNcricinfo 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  17. ↑ Electric England sweep to victory, ESPN cricinfo, 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
  18. ↑ Billings and Plunkett inspire England win, ESPN cricinfo, 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
  19. ↑ Sam Billings leads England to T20 win over Pakistan in Dubai, BBC sport website, 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  20. ↑ Billings revels in match-winning knock, England and Wales Cricket Board, 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  21. ↑ Billings wins man-of-the-match with maiden England 50, Kent County Cricket Club, 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  22. ↑ England World T20 squad: Liam Dawson in, Chris Woakes out, BBC Sport website, 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  23. ↑ Kent and England star Sam Billings drafted by Islamabad United ahead of first Pakistan Super League in UAE in February, Kent Online, 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  24. ↑ Indian Premier League: Jos Buttler bought by Mumbai Indians, BBC Sport website, 2016-02-06. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  25. ↑ Billings revels in T20 adventure land, Cricinfo, 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  26. ↑ Sam Billings swipes 50 on IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils, Canterbury Times, 2016-04-30. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  27. ↑ IPL 2016: Cashing in on foreign exchange, Indian Express, 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2016-05-02.

External links

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