Ali Brown
Encyclopedia
Alistair Duncan Brown (born 11 February 1970), more commonly known as Ali Brown, is an English
cricket
er who played for Surrey County Cricket Club
, before moving to Nottinghamshire
for the 2009 season. He is nicknamed "Lordy", in allusion to Ted Dexter
(who was known as "Lord Ted") because of his big-hitting, confident batting style. He is a right-hand bat and occasional right-arm off-break bowler, who made 16 One Day International appearances for England between 1996 and 2001, with a best of 118.
Brown has scored over 15,000 runs in first class cricket since his debut in 1992. An equally prolific one day player with over 11,000 runs, he also holds the world-record List-A score – 268. Brown is the only player in the history of List A cricket to make two double centuries.
in Surrey, where he won the Cricket Society's Wetherall Award for the most promising all rounder in school cricket in 1986, and his early promise led to second XI games for Surrey in 1988. He made his first-class debut
in 1992 and was awarded his County Cap in 1994. He shared the Walter Lawrence trophy (with Carl Hooper
) in 1998 for scoring the season's fastest first class century in just 72 balls against Northamptonshire
at the Oval
including 10 fours and 6 sixes.
at the Oval in the 4th round of the 2002 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy
, a world record individual high score in all one-day cricket. His innings took 160 balls and included 30 fours and 12 sixes. Surrey's final total of 438 - 5 in 50 overs was almost matched by Glamorgan who scored 429 all out and is remembered as the highest scoring one day match in the history of county cricket. Brown's innings broke Graeme Pollock
's 27-year-old record of 222. His partnership of 286 with IanWard was the Surrey record for any wicket in one day cricket until broken by the 294 added by Brown this time with James Benning in 2007 against Gloucestershire in which Brown scored 176 off just 97 balls. The '268 Bar' at the Oval cricket ground is named after Brown's innings.
Alistair Brown mostly opened for Surrey in one day cricket, as opposed to his usual Championship batting position of number 5. He holds the record for the highest score ever made in the Sunday League, amassing 203 for Surrey v Hampshire
at the Woodbridge Road
ground in Guildford
in 1997 in a 40 overs a side match. He scored his first 100 off 56 balls, made 150 off 84 and 200 from 118 with 19 fours and 11 sixes. Brown scored a match winning innings of 64 from just 41 balls in Surrey's victory over Leicestershire in the final of the inaugural competition Twenty/20 cup at Edgbaston
in 2004. He hit 30 sixes in one day cricket in 2006, second only to Cameron White
.
He started the 2007 season with a century in just 50 balls against Gloucestershire at the Oval in the Friends Provident competition (50 overs a side), the 7th quickest century in English one day cricket and the 12th fastest of all time. He set a new record partnership of 294, in less than 34 overs, for any wicket in one day cricket for Surrey with James Benning
, beating his own record of 289 with IanWard. He passed 150 runs in just 81 balls and scored 176 in 97 balls, with 8 sixes and 20 fours before missing a reverse sweep. The scorer of 19 one day centuries, he is one of the few contemporary English batsmen to have scored 10,000 runs in list A one day cricket.
Up to the start of the 2008 English season Brown had scored 14,705 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 43.50 with 44 centuries and a highest score of 295 not out against Leicestershire
at Oakham School in 2000. Ali Brown has taken 2 first class wickets with his off spin, taken 236 catches, mostly at slip, and is responsible for one first class stumping as a substitute wicket-keeper
. In 2004, with a century against Lancashire, he completed the feat of scoring a first class century against every other English county.
He played in the Surrey team that won the County Championship
in 1999, 2000 and 2002 as well the English domestic one day league in 1996 and 2003 and the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1997 and 2001. He was a member of the side which won the County Championship Division 2 title in 2006 and was rewarded with another contract, being described by coach Alan Butcher
as 'a great servant of the club'. Matthew Reed records that "for sheer entertainment value, there are very, very few to match him in the county game."
He signed a two year contract with Nottinghamshire
covering the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In 2010 the side won the County Championship
, to add to the three Championships he had won with Surrey in 1999, 2000 and 2002. After continuing with Nottinghamshire for the 2011 season, in August he announced his intention to retire as a player at the end of the season. In November 2011 he returned to Surrey as second team coach.
. His 16,898 first class runs at 42.67, and more than 11,000 List A runs, make him one of the most successful English batsmen never to have won a test cap. Lawrence Booth
described Brown as one of the best present-day English cricketers not to have played Test cricket.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played for Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
, before moving to Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
for the 2009 season. He is nicknamed "Lordy", in allusion to Ted Dexter
Ted Dexter
Edward Ralph Dexter CBE is a former English cricketer...
(who was known as "Lord Ted") because of his big-hitting, confident batting style. He is a right-hand bat and occasional right-arm off-break bowler, who made 16 One Day International appearances for England between 1996 and 2001, with a best of 118.
Brown has scored over 15,000 runs in first class cricket since his debut in 1992. An equally prolific one day player with over 11,000 runs, he also holds the world-record List-A score – 268. Brown is the only player in the history of List A cricket to make two double centuries.
Early career
Brown attended Caterham SchoolCaterham School
Caterham School is an independent coeducational day and boarding school in Caterham, Surrey and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.-History:...
in Surrey, where he won the Cricket Society's Wetherall Award for the most promising all rounder in school cricket in 1986, and his early promise led to second XI games for Surrey in 1988. He made his first-class debut
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
in 1992 and was awarded his County Cap in 1994. He shared the Walter Lawrence trophy (with Carl Hooper
Carl Hooper
Carl Llewellyn Hooper is a former West Indian cricket player and captain.-Career:He was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a side that included such players as Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh and represented...
) in 1998 for scoring the season's fastest first class century in just 72 balls against Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
at the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
including 10 fours and 6 sixes.
County cricket
Brown scored 268 against GlamorganGlamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
at the Oval in the 4th round of the 2002 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy
2002 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy
The 2002 Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy was the 2nd Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy following its change of name from the NatWest Trophy. It was an English limited overs county cricket tournament which was held between 29 August 2001 and 31 August 2002...
, a world record individual high score in all one-day cricket. His innings took 160 balls and included 30 fours and 12 sixes. Surrey's final total of 438 - 5 in 50 overs was almost matched by Glamorgan who scored 429 all out and is remembered as the highest scoring one day match in the history of county cricket. Brown's innings broke Graeme Pollock
Graeme Pollock
Robert Graeme Pollock, known as Graeme, is a former cricketer. He played in 23 Test matches for South Africa and represented Transvaal and Eastern Province at domestic level....
's 27-year-old record of 222. His partnership of 286 with IanWard was the Surrey record for any wicket in one day cricket until broken by the 294 added by Brown this time with James Benning in 2007 against Gloucestershire in which Brown scored 176 off just 97 balls. The '268 Bar' at the Oval cricket ground is named after Brown's innings.
Alistair Brown mostly opened for Surrey in one day cricket, as opposed to his usual Championship batting position of number 5. He holds the record for the highest score ever made in the Sunday League, amassing 203 for Surrey v Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
at the Woodbridge Road
Woodbridge Road
The Sports Ground, Woodbridge Road is a cricket ground in Guildford, Surrey. The ground was given to the town in trust in 1911 by Sir Harry Waechter, Bart. Guildford Cricket Club play their home matches on the ground. Surrey CCC play one County Championship match and one List A one-day match there...
ground in Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
in 1997 in a 40 overs a side match. He scored his first 100 off 56 balls, made 150 off 84 and 200 from 118 with 19 fours and 11 sixes. Brown scored a match winning innings of 64 from just 41 balls in Surrey's victory over Leicestershire in the final of the inaugural competition Twenty/20 cup at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
in 2004. He hit 30 sixes in one day cricket in 2006, second only to Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
.
He started the 2007 season with a century in just 50 balls against Gloucestershire at the Oval in the Friends Provident competition (50 overs a side), the 7th quickest century in English one day cricket and the 12th fastest of all time. He set a new record partnership of 294, in less than 34 overs, for any wicket in one day cricket for Surrey with James Benning
James Benning (cricketer)
James Benning is an English cricketer who currently plays for Leicestershire County Cricket Club having previously represented Surrey. He is a right-hand bat and right-arm medium pace bowler...
, beating his own record of 289 with IanWard. He passed 150 runs in just 81 balls and scored 176 in 97 balls, with 8 sixes and 20 fours before missing a reverse sweep. The scorer of 19 one day centuries, he is one of the few contemporary English batsmen to have scored 10,000 runs in list A one day cricket.
Up to the start of the 2008 English season Brown had scored 14,705 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 43.50 with 44 centuries and a highest score of 295 not out against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
at Oakham School in 2000. Ali Brown has taken 2 first class wickets with his off spin, taken 236 catches, mostly at slip, and is responsible for one first class stumping as a substitute wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
. In 2004, with a century against Lancashire, he completed the feat of scoring a first class century against every other English county.
He played in the Surrey team that won the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
in 1999, 2000 and 2002 as well the English domestic one day league in 1996 and 2003 and the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1997 and 2001. He was a member of the side which won the County Championship Division 2 title in 2006 and was rewarded with another contract, being described by coach Alan Butcher
Alan Butcher
Alan Raymond Butcher is a former English cricketer who is part of a family known for its strong cricketing connections. Although only selected to play for England on one occasion, he was lauded for his skills in first-class cricket and was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991...
as 'a great servant of the club'. Matthew Reed records that "for sheer entertainment value, there are very, very few to match him in the county game."
Move to Nottinghamshire
Brown was released by Surrey at the end of the 2008 season. Surrey executives remarked that "Alistair Brown has been a great servant of Surrey and played a leading role during his successful career with us", and "Brown has been one of the most prodigious run makers for Surrey in recent years... His record in one-day cricket is almost unparalleled and the club owe him a great debt of thanks for all that he has achieved."He signed a two year contract with Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
covering the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In 2010 the side won the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
, to add to the three Championships he had won with Surrey in 1999, 2000 and 2002. After continuing with Nottinghamshire for the 2011 season, in August he announced his intention to retire as a player at the end of the season. In November 2011 he returned to Surrey as second team coach.
England
Although he has played in 16 One Day Internationals, scoring 118 against India in just his 3rd match in 1996 and hitting a 31-ball 50 against South Africa in 1998 - the fastest in the history of the Texaco Trophy - he has never played in a Test matchTest cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
. His 16,898 first class runs at 42.67, and more than 11,000 List A runs, make him one of the most successful English batsmen never to have won a test cap. Lawrence Booth
Lawrence Booth (cricket writer)
Lawrence Booth is a cricket writer for the Daily Mail, author, and has been appointed editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for 2012. He has previously written for The Guardian, The Observer and The Sunday Times, and is a regular contributor to The Wisden Cricketer magazine...
described Brown as one of the best present-day English cricketers not to have played Test cricket.
External links
- Player Profile: Ali Brown from BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
- Player Profile: Ali Brown from Surrey CCC