Steven John Croft (born 11 October 1984) is an English former

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 who played for

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire Cricket Club represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire in Cricket in England, English cricket. The club has held first-class cricket, first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's ho ...

from 2005 until 2024. He bats right-handed and can bowl both

medium-fast Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

and

off break 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 ...

s. In 2008 Croft was given the Lancashire members' Player of the Year and One-Day Player of the Year awards. In 2008–09 he played for the

Auckland Aces The Auckland cricket team represent the Auckland region and are one of six New Zealand domestic first class cricket teams. Governed by the Auckland Cricket Association they are the most successful side having won 28 Plunket Shield titles, ten ...

in New Zealand as an overseas player. Awarded his Lancashire cap in 2010, Croft was part of the Lancashire team that won the County Championship in 2011.

Career

Born in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, Lancashire, Croft made his debut for the Lancashire Second XI at the age of 16, in May 2001. He made his first-class Lancashire debut in 2005, having previously made his list A debut for the Lancashire Cricket Board in 2002. He spent the winters of 2005–06 and 2006–07 playing club cricket in Australia. Croft finished the 2008 season with 585 first-class runs in thirteen matches, with an average of 32.50. He hit one century, his maiden hundred a 122 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 ...

and three fifties. In one-day matches, he hit 279 runs from thirteen matches, averaging 31. He was also the club's leading wicket-taker with fourteen, at an average of 21.71. In Twenty20 matches he hit 134 runs from eleven matches and took six wickets. He also won the Player of the Month award for August. In September 2008 Croft won two awards for the 2008 season winning the club's members Player of the Year award and the one-day Player of the Year award. At the start of August 2010, Croft was awarded his

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

. Croft signed a contract to become the overseas player at

, one of six first-class teams clubs in New Zealand for the State championship for the 2008–09 season. In eight first-class matches, he scored 330 runs, including two half-centuries, and averaged 36.66. Croft also played ten list A matches, amassing 209 runs with a single score above 50. During a drawn County Championship match against

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 ...

in August 2011, Croft scored the second century of his first-class career, and his first in three years. He passed 3,000 first-class runs in the innings of 122 from 182 balls, which equalled his highest score. Though there was a three-year gap between his first and second centuries, in the next County Championship match Croft scored a third, this time an innings of 107 in a Lancashire victory over

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. On 15 September 2011, Croft scored the winning runs as Lancashire beat

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

at Taunton to clinch the County Championship outright for the first time since 1934. Croft played in all 16 Championship matches and finished with 825 runs at an average of 31.73, making him the club's fourth highest run-scorer (only two Lancashire batsmen managed over- 1,000 runs in the 2011 season). Lancashire began their title defence poorly, with three losses from their first four County Championship matches. The batsmen struggled in particular, and it was not until the third County Championship match that one of them scored a century. Against a Somerset bowling attack depleted through injury, Croft scored his fourth first-class century. In June 2021, in the

2021 t20 Blast The 2021 Vitality Blast was the nineteenth edition of the T20 Blast currently known as the Vitality Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league played in England and Wales. run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), that was branded as ...

, Croft played in his 200th T20 match. He made his maiden T20 100 in June 2023, scoring 101 in a win against Northants. He retired from first-class and 50 over cricket in December 2023, signing a T20 contract only, as well as joining the county's coaching staff. In September 2024, announced his retirement from professional cricket at the age of 39 to move into Lancashire's coaching staff on a full-time basis.

Personal life

Croft was educated at Highfield Humanities College in his hometown of Blackpool and

Myerscough College Myerscough College (pronounced as ''Myers-coe'') is a Higher and Further Education college near Bilsborrow on the Fylde in Lancashire, England. Origins Myerscough College was founded on 15 March 1894 as the ''Lancashire County Institute of ...

in Bilsborrow on the Fylde. He has twice been the half-time guest at the club's home games at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

, firstly against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

on 21 October 2008. and again on 30 November 2009 during the

West Lancashire derby The West Lancashire derby (sometimes also known as the '' M55 derby'') is a local rivalry in English football between Lancashire clubs Blackpool and Preston North End. The derby has taken place across all four tiers of English football, but not ...

against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Steven Lancashire cricketers Auckland cricketers Northern Districts cricketers 1984 births English cricketers Sportspeople from Blackpool Living people Lancashire Cricket Board cricketers Articles containing video clips Lancashire cricket captains Cricketers from Lancashire