Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Alexander James Blake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Farnborough, London | 25 January 1989||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm
medium-fast Right-arm off-spin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2007–2023 | Kent (squad no. 10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2021 | Oval Invincibles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022/23 | Kathmandu Knights | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022/23 | Dhaka Dominators | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2023 | Cornwall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FC debut | 28 April 2008 Kent v New Zealanders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LA debut | 4 September 2007 Kent v Surrey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:
Cricinfo, 8 October 2023 |
Alexander James Blake (born 25 January 1989) is an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2023. He played as a left-handed batsman who bowled occasionally. [1] Blake was born in Farnborough in Bromley and attended Hayes School before studying at Leeds Metropolitan University. [1] Blake was known as a "brutal limited-overs batsman" and an "athletic" fielder. [1]
Blake was a member of the Kent Cricket Academy and played for the county at age group level before making his debut for the Kent Second XI in 2005. [2] [3] [4] He was part of the England under-19 team which played in an invitational tri-series in January and February 2007 in Kuala Lumpur. Blake made four under-19 One Day International appearances during the tournament against Malaysia under-19s and Sri Lanka under-19s. [5]
Blake made his List A cricket debut for Kent in the 2007 NatWest Pro40 against Surrey in September 2007, [6] before going on to make his first-class cricket debut for Kent against the touring New Zealanders in April 2008. [1] [7] He broke into the County Championship side in 2010 and scored his maiden County Championship century against Yorkshire in the final Championship match of the season. [1] [8] [9]
In 2015 he scored three half-centuries in Twenty 20 matches, [10] including his best score of 71 not out, scored in 30 balls against Hampshire. [1] Blake scored another two half-centuries in the 2015 Royal London One-Day Cup and recorded a batting average of 62 in the competition. [10] After attracting attention from Sussex, [11] he was awarded a new contract at the end of the 2015 season [1] [2] [10] and won Kent's One-Day Player of the Year award at the end of the season. [12] [13]
After only making one first-class appearance during 2015, Blake returned to the Kent County Championship side during the 2016 season, making eight appearances. [14] He hit three sixes from the only balls he faced to complete a Championship win against Derbyshire in May and hit 66 not out against Surrey in the One-Day Cup, scoring a six from the penultimate ball of the match to secure the win for Kent. [15] [16]
In January 2020, Blake signed a new white-ball contract with Kent, becoming the first homegrown player to sign such a deal with county. [17] After the 2023 season his contract was not renewed by Kent, bringing to an end a 17-year professional career with Kent. [18]