5 Cricket Players Who Started Late

5 Cricket Players Who Started Late

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Athletes often tell stories of how they started their respective sports young or how it was a long-time passion. However, that is not the case for everyone. There are some athletes that only developed their passion for the sport later on in their life.

There are even some athletes that found an interest in a sport in adulthood and decide to pursue it. It can be a struggle for some to pursue a sport later in life, however, it is not impossible. The options for sports to pursue are not limited either.

These options include cricket, which may not be the most popular sport, but has plenty of formidable athletes. Even cricketers who started late have a set of people who professionally performed well. These are a few of those people:

Michael Hussey

When it comes to cricketers who started late, Michael Hussey is one of the most prominent names on the topic. Michael Hussey is a former Australian cricketer who made a memorable mark as a cricketer after debuting at age 30 in 2004. In the years he played, Hussey featured in 79 Tests, 185 ODIs, and 38 T20Is. From the matches he played, Hussey amassed over 12000 runs.

In addition to leaving a mark on the domestic field, Hussey also made an impact in international games. When he played in the IPL in 2013, he showed an amazing performance as the CSK’s (Chennai Super Kings) batter and won the Orange Cap. During his time as a player, Hussey also received the title of Mr. Cricketer. When he retired as a player, he became the coach for the Chennai Super Kings in 2018 before Stephen Fleming resumed his duties.

Chris Rogers

Chris Rogers is another former Australian that made his cricket debut in his thirties. When he was a player, he played as a left-handed opening batsman. For a decade, he played county cricket in England and represented five first-class teams – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Middlesex, and Somerset. Rogers also holds the record for scoring the most half-centuries in consecutive innings.

While he played in many county games, it was only in 2008 that he made his official debut at 31. During that time, he had rejoined Derbyshire as an overseas player when Mahela Jayawardene was unavailable due to his commitments with Sri Lanka and the Indian Premier League. He later became the temporary captain after Rikki Clarke resigned.

Other than being a late debutant, Rogers was remembered for maintaining a first-class average of nearly 50. During his time as a cricket player, he was recalled to the Australia national team for the 2013 Ashes series, aged 35. Over the following two years, he played a further 24 Tests opening the batting for Australia before retiring after the 2015 Ashes series.

Ryan Harris

One cricket player that made his debut near his thirties is Ryan Harris. Rather than making a late entry into the cricket scene, he made a late debut on the international field. Born in 1979, Harris started professionally playing cricket in his 20s and his first team was the Southern Redbacks. In 2009, he was signed by Surrey on a short-term contract then in 2010, he played domestic cricket for Yorkshire.

It was in January 2009, that Harris made his international debut in a One Day International against South Africa in Hobart. Following the game, he was not selected for another ODI match until a year later. Harris got asked to join the Australian cricket team on 26 January 2010 for a match against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval.

The player received his first call-up to the Australian squad in March 2010, for the Test series held in New Zealand. While he had his share of achievements, he ended up taken out for months in 2014 following a knee injury that required surgery. By 2015, he had retired as a player.

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav is an Indian International Cricketer who plays as a right-handed batsman. He is known for playing for Mumbai in domestic cricket and Mumbai Indians in IPL. He was also previously overlooked despite his exceptional performances.

However, after his dominant IPL performances from 2018 to 2020, selectors recognized his talent and he made his international debut on July 18, 2021. He is now a preferred batsman in India’s T20I and ODI teams with an impressive T20I strike rate of 165.

Saeed Ajmal

Former Pakistani cricket star, Saeed Ajmal, who is now a coach for Pakistan, surprises many people when they learn that he did not make his debut until he was 31 years old, despite his talent. He was at his best when his variations were indecipherable from his hand, making him almost unplayable off the pitch.

Ajmal played a crucial role in Pakistan’s 2009 T20 World Cup victory and soon established himself in the Test arena. Between 2008 and 2015, he enjoyed great success, taking 178 Test wickets at an average of 28 and 184 ODI wickets at 22. Unfortunately, his success did not last long, and by 2017, he retired from the sport.

There are many other players who experienced a late debut in their careers but these are just some notable cricketers that left a mark. While their time in cricket wasn’t long, they achieved plenty in the time they had.

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