Alexander Guy Rushworth Loudon (born 6 September 1980) is an English former professional

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. A right-handed batsman and

off spin Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to r ...

bowler, he was considered a promising future international player.

Early life

Raised in the family home at

Olantigh Olantigh is an English house north of Wye in the civil parish of Wye with Hinxhill, in Kent, England. The garden terraces and towered stable block were Grade II listed in 1989 and extend to , beside the Great Stour river. Garden features inc ...

near

Wye, Kent Wye is a village and former Civil parishes in England, civil parish, now in the parish of Wye with Hinxhill, in the Borough of Ashford, Ashford district, in Kent, England, from Ashford, Kent, Ashford and from Canterbury. It is the main settlem ...

, Loudon was educated at

Wellesley House School Wellesley Haddon Dene School is a private day preparatory school in the coastal town of Broadstairs in the English county of Kent. Founded in 1866, it educates boys and girls aged 3 to 11. The merger of Haddon Dene School with Wellesley House ...

and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, where he was President of the Eton Society. There he captained the 1st XI, and subsequently the

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

1st XI while studying at Collingwood College, and captained both the England Under-15 and England Under-19 teams. He was awarded the

NBC Denis Compton Award The NBC Denis Compton Award was an annual award given to 'The Most Promising Young Player' at each of the 18 first-class counties in England and Wales. The award was made between 1996 and 2011. A player may receive the award more than once. Hist ...

in 1999.

Cricket career

He started his professional career at

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

before moving to

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. Initially known for his batting, in later years he worked hard to improve his bowling, gaining recognition as an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

. An off spin bowler, he was reported to be working on the

doosra A doosra is a particular type of delivery (cricket), delivery by an off spin, off-spin bowler (cricket), bowler in cricket. The doosra spins in the opposite direction to an off break (the off-spinner's default delivery), and aims to confuse the ...

, the much-discussed variation ball which turns the other way, although by his own admission his technique was still at an inconsistent stage. Loudon was selected for the 17-man

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

squad to tour

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in autumn 2005, when England were looking for a second

spinner Spinner may refer to: Technology * Spinner (aeronautics), the aerodynamic cone at the hub of an aircraft propeller * Spinner (cell culture), laboratory equipment for cultivating plant or mammalian cells * Spinner (computing), a graphical widget in ...

in addition to

Ashley Giles Ashley Fraser Giles (born 19 March 1973) is a former English first-class cricketer, who played 54 Test matches and 62 One Day Internationals for England before being forced to retire due to a recurring hip injury. Giles played the entirety of ...

. However, he was not called upon to play. He was subsequently called up as a part of the 15-man squad for the One Day Internationals versus Sri Lanka in June 2006, playing a solitary game. He took 0/36 off 6 overs and was run out without facing a ball. He was not selected for either the Test or One Day legs of England's tour to Australia the following winter.

Retirement

On 19 October 2007, Loudon announced his retirement from cricket to pursue a business career. In 2008, Loudon enrolled in the full-time MBA programme at the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

. As of 2017, he was a partner in investment firm Abercross Holdings.

Personal life

Loudon attracted significant media attention in 2011, when he was dating

Pippa Middleton Philippa Charlotte Matthews (née Middleton; born 6 September 1983) is a British socialite, author and columnist. She is the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales. Born in Reading, Berkshire and raised in Bucklebury, Middleton atte ...

, although the duo subsequently broke up.

References

External links

* * Angus Fraser
''Alex Loudon: Richly talented''
In:

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 23 April 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Loudon, Alex 1980 births Living people English cricketers England One Day International cricketers Kent cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Alumni of Collingwood College, Durham Alumni of London Business School Durham MCCU cricketers People educated at Eton College Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Kent Cricket Board cricketers NBC Denis Compton Award recipients Cricketers from the City of Westminster People from Westminster