David Fulton (English Cricketer)
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David Paul Fulton (born 15 November 1971) is a former English 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 who played for 15 seasons for
Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...
. He played as a right-handed
opening batsman In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...
who occasionally bowled
left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven ...
. Since retiring from
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 ...
in 2006 he has been a cricket journalist with
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
and
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
. Fulton was born in
Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...
in Greater London in 1971.


Early career

Having been educated at
The Judd School The Judd School (often known simply as Judd) is an 11–18 voluntary aided, grammar school and sixth form in Tonbridge, Kent, England. It was established in 1888 at Stafford House on East Street in Tonbridge, where it remained for eight years bef ...
in
Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...
and the
University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...
, Fulton joined Kent in 1992. His first-class debut came at
Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orc ...
, where he scored 16 and 42 in the match against
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. Later that year he appeared in the University Championship final for the University of Kent, where he contributed 10 runs in the defeat to the
University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...
. Once established in the first-team, Fulton performed consistently in the seasons between 1995 and 1998, where he averaged over 30 every year. In 1995 Fulton stood in as opening batsman in place of
Mark Benson Mark Richard Benson (born 6 July 1958) is an English former cricketer and umpire. A left-handed batsman, Benson played for Kent for 17 years and represented England in one Test match and one One Day International in 1986. He later took up ump ...
in the final of the
Benson and Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...
which Kent lost to
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 ...
,
Christopher Martin-Jenkins Christopher Dennis Alexander Martin-Jenkins, Order of the British Empire, MBE (20 January 1945 – 1 January 2013), also known as CMJ, was a British cricket journalist and a President of Marylebone Cricket Club, MCC. He was also the longest serv ...
reporting that "Fulton had an outstanding day in the field, ndlaunched the innings with confidence and style - in a sunhat, not a helmet", and helped Kent to win the Sunday League. 1996 also saw Fulton take his only first-class wicket; that of
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
batsman William Kendall,
caught and bowled Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the catch i ...
. Fulton's best run-scoring return was 954 runs in 1998, a season in which he hit his first double century. Playing against
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
at
Mote Park Mote Park is a multi-use public park in Maidstone, Kent. Previously a country estate it was converted to landscaped park land at the end of the 18th century before becoming a municipal park. It includes the former stately home Mote House toget ...
,
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
, Fulton posted 207
not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...
over the course of ten-and-a-half hours to save Kent from a heavy defeat. However, his innings was criticised by some, notably Clive Ellis of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', of being so slow that it prevented Kent from reaching a position to set a target. His run-scoring returns declined in 1999 and 2000, whilst his average slipped into the mid-twenties. However, 2001 proved a much more productive year. In eighteen first-class matches, Fulton scored a total of 1892 runs, at an average of 75.68. His form over the season was noticed by the national selectors, who according to
Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain (born 28 March 1968) is an English cricket commentator and former player who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, with his overall international career extending from 1990 to 2004. A pugnacious right-hande ...
, originally selected him in place of
Mark Butcher Mark Alan Butcher (born 23 August 1972) is an English cricket commentator and former English Test cricketer, who played county cricket for Surrey from 1992 until his retirement in 2009. He was a left-handed batsman, and occasional right-arm medi ...
for the fourth Test against
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, before having a change of heart and reinstating Butcher. Nonetheless, Fulton was named Player of the Year by the
Professional Cricketers' Association The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey (when it was known as the Cricketers' Association). In ...
at the end of the season.


Captaincy and later career

The 2002 season saw Fulton share the captaincy with Matthew Fleming, with Fulton leading the side in first-class cricket and Fleming leading in one-day matches. The captaincy did not affect his batting, as he scored 1358 runs, his second thousand-run season in succession. The Australian captain
Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman and a medium-pace bowler, Waugh is considered one of the greatest cricketers of all time. ...
, in his brief spell as overseas player for Kent, remarked that he could be "a future England captain" Whilst preparing for the 2003 season, Fulton was hit in the eye by a ball from a bowling machine, whilst practising the
pull shot In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter regardless of wheth ...
. The injury ruled him out for the first eight weeks of the season, and Fulton admitted upon standing down from the captaincy three seasons later that his eye was still troubling him. Despite this, he still managed to score over 600 runs in eleven matches. He consistently scored runs for the next three seasons, whilst helping Kent challenge for first-class honours. 2004 saw Kent finish second 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 ...
, and his side also challenged for the 2005 title. He stepped down from the one-day captaincy after being dropped, ahead of Kent's
C&G Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...
quarter-final against Warwickshire in 2005. Handing the one-day captaincy to Matthew Walker, he continued as first-class captain until the end of the season, where a run-chase agreement led to him being criticised by other county captains. In an attempt to keep his side's Championship hopes alive, he agreed to chase a target of 420 in 70 overs with
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 ...
captain
Stephen Fleming Stephen Paul Fleming (born 1 April 1973) is a cricket coach and former captain of the New Zealand national cricket team. He was a left-handed Batting order (cricket), opening batter and an occasional right arm slow medium bowler. He is New Zea ...
; Kent managed only to reach 210. The win for Nottinghamshire secured them the Championship.
Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...
, the
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
captain whose side were also in the running for the title, described the agreement as "one of the dumbest things I have ever seen." Fulton stood down as captain a week later. Fulton was awarded a benefit year in 2006, with proceeds totalling £105,000, half of which was given to charity. He retired at the end of the season, having scored 155 in his final first-class innings; against
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
. Owing to club captain
Rob Key Robert William Trevor Key (born 12 May 1979) is an English former cricketer and cricket commentator who played international cricket in all formats for England and domestic cricket for Kent County Cricket Club. He is the current managing directo ...
being rested and stand-in captain
Martin van Jaarsveld Martin van Jaarsveld (born 18 June 1974) is a former South African cricketer who played nine Tests and eleven One Day Internationals for South Africa between 2002 and 2004. Van Jaarsveld is a specialist middle-order batsman, though he has two w ...
being in hospital, Fulton led the side on to the field during the final session as acting captain. Fulton published an analysis of captaincy in recent
Ashes Ashes may refer to: * Ash, the solid remnants of fires. Media and entertainment Art * ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch Film * ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda * ''Ashes'' (1922 film), ...
cricket in 2009, to which Shane Warne, in spite of their earlier disagreements, contributed a
Foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, David 1971 births Living people English cricketers Kent cricketers Kent cricket captains Alumni of the University of Kent People educated at The Judd School Cricketers from the London Borough of Lewisham People from Lewisham The Times people Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers