John Andrew Afford (born 12 May 1964) is a former English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er. He was a right-handed batsman and a left-arm slow bowler who played for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. He is now a businessman. Afford made his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire against Oxford University, during the 1984 season, appearing in single game during the 1984 County Championship season, but it wasn't until two years later that he would get a regular first-team place, playing just two County Championship games during the 1985 season. He played in the Second XI Championship in 1987 and 1988 and returned to play several matches for the first team in 1989. Afford started the following season promisingly, making the selection for an England A fixture against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

in 1990 which the team won by nine wickets. He finished the year being awarded his cap. In 1991 the team's Second XI flourished, winning the Second XI Trophy with Afford putting in a strong bowling performance along the way to Nottinghamshire's top placing in the North Zone, and taking the wicket of

Ali Brown Alistair Duncan Brown (born 11 February 1970), commonly known as Ali Brown, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club, before moving to Nottinghamshire for the 2009 season. He was nicknamed "Lordy", in allusion t ...

in the final. Afford was now regularly partnered by former England Test spinner Eddie Hemmings. Afford took 468 first-class wickets, including hauls of

10 wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowl ...

on two occasions, and

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

s on sixteen occasions, with his best haul of 6-51 coming against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. The two ten-wicket innings came against

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 ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. Afford was editor of All Out Cricket between 2002 and 2011, nominated as one of the

British Society of Magazine Editors The British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME.market) is a professional association of print and onlinBSME.MARKETeditors in the United Kingdom. Established in 1981, the BSME.market has 148 members. Its annual awards—the BSME.market Awards and t ...

(BSME) sports editors of the year in 2011 and worked as publishing director of ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county, club and schools cricket. Overview The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cric ...

'' magazine. In 2016, Afford co-founded Nottingham-based creative agency STENCIL with Sam Bowles. He is currently managing director and leads on projects in sport, music and food & drink.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afford, Andy 1964 births English cricketers English magazine editors Living people Nottinghamshire cricketers People from Crowland Lincolnshire cricketers Cricketers from Lincolnshire 20th-century English sportsmen