Tom Abell
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Thomas Benjamin Abell (born 5 March 1994) is an 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 who plays for
Somerset County Cricket Club Somerset County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Somer ...
. Primarily a right-handed batter, he also bowls right-arm medium pace. Abell enjoyed a prolific cricket record while at
Taunton School Taunton School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, now co-educational, in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18. The current headmaster i ...
, where in 2012 he accumulated seven centuries and passed 50 in every innings he played at an average of 193, and he was named 2013 ''Young Wisden'' Schools Cricketer of the Year. He made his Somerset first-class debut against Warwickshire in August 2014, scoring 95 in his first innings. He was appointed Somerset's County Championship skipper for the 2017 season.


Career


Early life and career

Abell was born in
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...
, and educated at the independent
Taunton School Taunton School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, now co-educational, in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18. The current headmaster i ...
. He made his debut for the Taunton School's 1st XI side aged 14, where he became the youngest cricketer at the school to reach the 1000-run landmark at the age of just 16. By the time he left school he had scored a record 3,630 runs for the first XI, and as captain of the first team he finished the 2012 season with 1,156 runs at an average of 193 accumulating seven centuries and passing 50 in every innings he played, and also took 19 wickets average of 15. His performances led him to be named 2013 ''Young Wisden'' Schools Cricketer of the Year, and received the Wetherell Award, presented by The Cricket Society to the leading all rounder in School's Cricket, in 2012. As well as starring for the Taunton School cricket team, he also captained the school hockey team to a second consecutive undefeated season, and also represented the school rugby, rugby sevens and indoor hockey, in which the school reached the semi-finals at the national finals. His all-round sporting successes led him to be nominated for "Male Pupil of the Year" at the Aviva/Telegraph School Sport Matters Awards, where he finished as runner-up to British Olympic diver Tom Daley. While at school he also had a trial for the England men's national hockey team at under-16 level. Abell played extensively for Somerset's youth teams, appearing at Under-14, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 level. He made his senior club cricket debut for Taunton in the 2009 season, aged just 15, scoring an unbeaten 22. At the age of 17, Abell scored 150 in a losing cause as he attempted to chase down a total in excess of 300 against Warminster, in 2013 he scored 768 runs for Taunton at an average of 76.80 and followed this up, in 2014 with 770 runs for Taunton in the West of England Premier League, with a highest score of 185* at an average of 128.33 as he helped the club earn promotion. Abell made his first appearances for the Somerset Second XI in 2010, Abell was named Second XI player of the year in 2013, after he amassed 1,234 runs at an average of 40.13, including four centuries and five scores of 50 or more. After leaving Taunton School, Abell went on to study a degree in Flexible Combined Honours, Sports Science and French, at the
University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
. While at university he led the men's first team to the finals of the BUCS outdoor championships, and the indoor league title.


First-team breakthrough

He made his Somerset first-class debut 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 2014, having been called up to the team as a late replacement for the county's overseas player Alviro Petersen who had suffered a knee injury. He scored 95 in his first innings, and was the last man out for Somerset with the total on 286, narrowly missing out on the becoming the first Somerset-born player, since Harold Gimblett in 1935, to score a century on their
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 ...
debut. Abell maintained his place in the Somerset side until the end of the season scoring two further half-centuries, scoring exactly 50 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 ...
, and 75 in Somerset's final match of the season away at champions
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 ...
, he finished the season with 292 runs at an average of 41. At the end of the season Abell was one of four Somerset players to be awarded a new one-year contract. After breaking into the Somerset side batting at number four, Abell spent the 2015 season as Marcus Trescothick's regular opening partner. His season began poorly with a second ball duck in Somerset's opening match against the Durham MCC University side. Having missed games during the early part of the season due to university commitments, Abell made his first half-century of the season against defending champions Yorkshire, on 25 May 2015, he also took his maiden first-class wicket in the match having Yorkshire bowler Jack Brooks caught behind for 24, he ended the innings with bowling analysis of 1/11 from 4.4 overs. In early June 2015, Abell was awarded a new four-year contract extension with Somerset. On 15 June 2015, Abell carried his bat through Somerset's innings 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 ...
scoring 76 from 150 balls out of the Somerset's total of 200. Abell also scored a further half century in Somerset's successful fourth innings chase of 401, the second highest in the county's history, to record his first victory in a Somerset shirt. He followed this up with a further half century away at Hampshire in Somerset's next Championship game, and scored an unbeaten 21 to guide Somerset to a nine-wicket victory. On 29 July 2015, Abell 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 for Somerset against Durham, scoring 23 in Somerset's seven wicket defeat. He made his maiden list A half century against Yorkshire, scoring 80 from 112 balls as Somerset chased down 178 to win by six wickets. Somerset were knocked out of the 2015 Royal London One-Day Cup in the group stage, with Abell scoring 202 runs in the competition at an average of 33. Having suffered a number of near misses, Abell scored his maiden first-class century for Somerset against
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, ...
, on 10 September 2015. He scored 131 from 203 balls, in a partnership of 272 with Marcus Trescothick. At the end of the 2015 season Abell won the LV= Breakthrough Player Award, for his performances in the County Championship. He ended the season with 726 runs in the Championship at an average of 36, with one century and five half centuries. Abell spent the 2015–16 winter playing grade cricket for Fremantle District Cricket Club in
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, and had a highly successful winter twice winning the Kookaburra player of the round award, in total across all formats he scored 641 runs at an average of 40 while he took 21 wickets with the ball at an average of 18. The 2016 season saw Abell continue to open in the County Championship with Marcus Trescothick with the club's new captain, former Australian Test match opener, Chris Rogers signed by the club to bat at number 3. After a disastrous campaign for Somerset in the 2016 t20 Blast, Abell made his
Twenty20 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 ...
debut in a much changed side for their final group match against
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, ...
on 29 July 2016. Abell batted at number 5, scoring seven runs before being dismissed by Liam Dawson.


Somerset captaincy

On 21 December 2016, Abell was appointed Somerset County Cricket Club captain ahead of the 2017 season. He resigned as Somerset captain in December 2023.


T20 franchise career

In December 2021, he was signed by the Karachi Kings following the players' draft for the 2022 Pakistan Super League. In April 2022, he was bought by the Birmingham Phoenix for the 2022 season of The Hundred.


International career

In February 2023, Abell was named in England's
One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
(ODI) and
Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...
(T20I) squad for their series against Bangladesh. Later he was ruled out of the squad due to side strain.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abell, Tom 1994 births Living people Alumni of the University of Exeter Cricketers from Taunton People educated at Taunton School English cricketers Somerset cricket captains Somerset cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Rangpur Riders cricketers English expatriate cricketers in Bangladesh Birmingham Phoenix cricketers Brisbane Heat cricketers English expatriate cricketers in Australia Dambulla Aura cricketers English expatriate cricketers in Sri Lanka Sunrisers Eastern Cape cricketers English expatriate cricketers in South Africa Welsh Fire cricketers Lahore Qalandars cricketers