Matthew Thomas Coles (born 26 May 1990) 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. He played as a bowling

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 ...

who bowled right-arm fast-medium pace and batted left-handed. He most recently was contracted to

Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 w ...

and has represented the

England Lions cricket team The England Lions (formerly England A) cricket team is England and Wales' "second-tier" team, below the full England cricket team. It is largely intended as a way for promising young cricketers to gain experience in international cricket. Engl ...

. Coles played for

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 ...

for two spells either side of spending 18 months at

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, ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

he joined

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

side Dhaka Dynamites for part of their season.

Early life and career

Coles was born in

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 ...

in 1990.Matt Coles

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 2016-11-11. He attended The Maplesden Noakes School and Mid-Kent College in the town and played for

age group teams at under-13, under-15 and under-17 levels. He was a member of Kent's cricket academyMatt Coles: Derbyshire chase Kent all-rounder
BBC Sport, 2013-08-23. Retrieved 2016-11-13. and first played for Kent's Second XI in 2007 before making his

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 ...

debut for the county in April 2009 against Loughborough UCCE.

Cricketing career

After making his debut, Coles played one more first-class match in 2009, appearing in Kent's final

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

match of the season against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

in September 2009.First-class matches played by Matt Coles
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-11-11. He also made four appearances in the Pro 40 tournament for the county during 2009. Coles became a regular in Kent teams the following season. He reached his maiden first-class century 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 ...

by hitting a reverse sweep for six in April 2012.Matt Coles stars as Kent pile on runs against Yorkshire
BBC Sport, 2012-04-06.Gibson R (2012
Matt Coles century takes Kent past 500 against Yorkshire
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2016-11-13. He was awarded a county cap in August 2012.Coles and Northeast honoured with county caps in Canterbury Week presentation

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 ...

, 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2014-03-03. During the 2012 season Coles took 59 first-class wickets, and earned a call up to the England Lions squad. He took two wickets on his Lions' debut in May 2012Kent back Matt Coles to regain England Lions place
BBC Sport, 2013-03-20. Retrieved 2016-11-13. and was included on the Lions' tour of Australia in 2013. He was sent home early from the tour along with

Ben Stokes Benjamin Andrew Stokes (born 4 June 1991) is an English international cricketer who is List of England cricket captains, the captain of the England cricket team, England Test cricket, Test team. Stokes has played for England in all three forma ...

for drinking beyond curfew hours more than once. Pringle D (2013
England Lions pair Matt Coles and Ben Stokes sent home from Australia tour for persistent late night drinking
''

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 foun ...

'', 2013-02-20. Retrieved 2016-11-13.England pair Matt Coles and Ben Stokes sent home from Australia
BBC Sport, 2013-02-20. Retrieved 2016-11-13.

Move to Hampshire, 2013

Coles turned down a new contract offered by Kent in August 2013Matt Coles: Kent all-rounder turns down new contract
BBC Sport, 2013-08-22. and, after initially attracting attention from

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, signed on loan for

until the end of the season.Hampshire sign Kent all-rounder on loan

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

, 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2016-11-13. In Hampshire's last game of the season against

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Coles took match figures of 10/154 and later in the same month signed a 3–year deal.Hampshire sign Kent all-rounder on three-year deal

, 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2016-11-13.Matt Coles: Unsettled all-rounder released by Hampshire
BBC Sport, 2015-03-07. Retrieved 2016-11-13.

Return to Kent, 2015

Coles took 41 wickets in 13 County Championship matches for Hampshire in 2014 as well as 27 wickets in one-day competitions. He scored an 18 ball half-century in the T20 Blast but was released by Hampshire in March 2015 after only one year with the club saying that he had not "settled" at the county.Matt Coles: Kent re-sign all-rounder after Hampshire exit
BBC Sport, 2015-03-10. Retrieved 2016-11-13. He returned to Kent in the same month and took 100 wickets in all formats for Kent in the 2015 seasonNortheast and Coles in PCA Team of 2015
Kent County Cricket Club, 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2015-09-30. and won the Kent Player of the Year award at the end of the season,Matt Coles wins Spitfire Kent Player of the Year 2015
Kent County Cricket Club, 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-09-30. and was chosen in 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 ...

Team of 2015 in September 2015. He was nominated as part of a four-man shortlist as the

Player of the Year.Ashes winner Barstow among PCA nominees
''

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 ...

'', 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2015-09-30. During the season, Coles scored a century against

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

in the

Royal London One-Day Cup The One-Day Cup, currently known as the Metro Bank One Day Cup, is a fifty-over limited overs cricket competition for the England and Wales first-class counties. It began in 2014 as a replacement for the ECB 40 tournament, which ran from 2010 ...

quarter final,Coles gives Surrey fright after Roy's hundred

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, 2015-08-27. Retrieved 2015-09-30. took ten wickets in the

match against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

Coles completes 10-for in Kent breeze

, 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-09-30. and took a hat-trick against

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 ...

in the One-Day Cup.One-Day Cup: Matt Coles' hat-trick sees Kent beat Notts
BBC sport website, 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2015-09-30. During the season he signed a long-term contract extension with Kent.Harvey R (2015
All-rounder Matt Coles signs a long-term contract extension with Kent
''

Kent Online KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations, TV and websites throughout the county. Yattendon Group#Iliff ...

'', 2015-07-25. Retrieved 2016-11-17. During the 2016 season Coles' behaviour caused him to be investigated by Kent and led to him missing a number of matches during the middle of the season.Coles' behaviour investigated by Kent

, 2016-06-27, Retrieved 2016-11-11.Kent fast bowler Matt Coles missing from squad due to an on-going employer/employee matter
''

'', 2016-07-03. Retrieved 2016-11-17.Computer says yes as Coles is named for North-South fixtures

, 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2016-11-11. He was also suspended for two County Championship matches by the ECB in May after being found to have thrown the ball in a "dangerous manner",Kent paceman Matt Coles suspended for throwing ball in 'dangerous manner'
BBC Sport, 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2016-11-17. although Coles claimed he was returning the ball to the wicket-keeper. He played regularly for Kent when available and performed well enough in the

2016 Royal London One-Day Cup The 2016 Royal London One-Day Cup tournament was a limited overs cricket competition that formed part of the 2016 domestic cricket season in England and Wales. Matches were contested over 50 overs per side and have List A status. All eighteen F ...

to be selected automatically for the

North v South The North of England and South of England cricket teams appeared in first-class matches between the 1836 and 1961 seasons, most often playing against each other but also individually in games against touring teams, Marylebone Cricket Club ( ...

match to be played at the start of the 2017 season in the

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and was also selected in the MCC side for the 2017 Champion County match but withdrew from both matches to rest a toe injury.Sam Northeast and Matt Coles in MCC Champion County team

, 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2017-01-27.Haseeb and Duckett named in MCC squad

, 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2017-01-27.Coles to miss North v South and MCC matches

, 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2017-02-23. Coles began the 2017 season as a regular member of the First XI in all forms of cricket. He travelled to the Caribbean with the team to take part in the

2016–17 Regional Super50 The 2016–17 Regional Super50 was the 43rd edition of the Regional Super50, the domestic limited-overs cricket competition for the countries of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The tournament was held in Antigua and Barbuda. Ten teams pa ...

List A competition in February, playing in five matches and taking nine wickets during the competition, before opening the 2017 County Championship as one of Kent's main strike bowlers. In July he took a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a T20 match 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 ...

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. After the end of the 2017 season Coles joined

on a two-year contract.Matt Coles: Essex sign Kent all-rounder on two-year contract

, 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2017-10-19. During 2019 he was loaned to Northants for a short spell.

Twenty20 franchise cricket

During the 2016 English off-season Coles signed for Dhaka Dynamites to play

Twenty20 cricket Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

in the 2016–17 Bangladesh Premier League. Coles signed for Dhaka after the tournament had begun in order to develop his T20 skills.Pyman S (201
Matt Coles joins Bangladesh Premier League outfit Dhaka Dynamites
Kent News, 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2016-11-11. He made his debut for the team on 17 November against

Chittagong Vikings Chittagong Kings () is a franchise cricket team which participates in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The franchise is based in Chattogram. Franchise history The Chattogram franchise joined the BPL as one of its original members in 2012, ...

and went on to play in three matches for Dhaka, scoring 23 runs and taking two wickets.Batting and fielding for Dhaka Dynamites – Bangladesh Premier League 2016/17
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-12-12. The team won the 2016–17 BPL, although Coles did not play in the final. Coles had previously applied to join the BPL draft in advance of the 2015–16 season, but had to withdraw after requiring an operation on an injured foot.Thomas J (2015
Stevens signed for BPL
''Kent Sports News'', 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2016-11-17.Hoad A (2015
Kent Cricket all-rounder Matt Coles says a winter not playing because of a foot injury may benefit him long term
''

'', 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2015-11-17.

Career Best Performances

''as of 11 November 2016''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coles, Mat 1990 births Living people English cricketers Kent cricketers Cricketers from Maidstone NBC Denis Compton Award recipients Hampshire cricketers Essex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Bedfordshire cricketers