Edmund John Holden Eckersley (born 9 August 1989) is an English

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 is a right-handed batsman and

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

. He was a core player of

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 ...

from 2011 to 2018. After his release from Leicestershire he signed for

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

Career

Eckersley made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut playing for the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) in 2008, having previously played for Middlesex Second XI and the MCC Young Cricketers. His debut, against Bangladesh A, saw him make three catches as

wicketkeeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a catch, stump the batsman out, or run out a batsman when occasion arises. The wicket-ke ...

, but he only scored one run. As a member of the MCC Young Cricketers squad, he was chosen to perform 12th man duties in the 2009 Ashes Lord's Test and got the opportunity to field on the fourth day. In 2010, Eckersley was selected as one of 21 players to form the first

Unicorns The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

squad to take part in the

Clydesdale Bank 40 The ECB40, last known as the Yorkshire Bank 40 (YB40) for sponsorship reasons, was a forty-over limited overs cricket competition for the English first-class counties. It began in the 2010 English cricket season as a replacement for the Pro40 a ...

domestic one day competition against the regular first-class counties. The Unicorns were made up of 15 former county cricket professionals and 6 young cricketers looking to make it in the professional game.Cricinfo staff
Unicorns name squad for Clydesdale Bank 40
13 April 2010,

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 on 2 May 2010. In 2011, Eckersley was offered a trial at

after some impressive performances in 2010 for the MCC Young Cricketers. He spent most of the season with the Second XI, becoming the team's highest scorer, and was rewarded for this late in the 2011 season with a debut for the Leicestershire First XI, 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 ...

Grace Road Grace Road, known for sponsorship reasons as the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road, is a cricket ground in Leicester, England. It is the home ground and administrative base of Leicestershire County Cricket Club. History Leicestershire ...

. He then followed that up with some solid batting displays 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 particular, making his maiden first-class fifty, and taking four catches as wicketkeeper. He then spent the close season playing for

Mountaineers Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

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 the 2012 season he made excellent progress with Leicestershire including a six and a half-hour innings against

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

. His score of 137 not out was part of a second wicket stand of 245 with

Michael Thornely Michael Alistair Thornely (born 19 October 1987) is an English former professional cricketer who last played for Leicestershire County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional right arm medium pace bowler. Thornely started hi ...

, and was a career best for him at the time. He followed this with an extremely successful 2013 season, for which he was named

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 ...

's breakthrough player of the season. He topped Leicestershire's first-class batting averages, with 1302 runs at 50.07, nearly twice as many runs as any other Leicestershire player. He made four first-class centuries, plus one score of 108 in a 40-over game, and was rewarded with his county cap in September.Leicestershire County Cricket Club's Ned Eckersley rewarded for fantastic summer with County cap
3 September 2013,

Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its pre ...

. Retrieved on 28 September 2013. His season was mired somewhat, however, on 1 September when both he and Josh Cobb were arrested by police for being drunk and disorderly in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

city centre. Both received fines.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckersley, Ned 1989 births Living people People educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Durham cricketers Cricketers from Oxford Wicket-keepers