Alex_Lees_(cricketer)

Alex Lees

Alex Lees

English cricketer

Alexander Zak Lees (born 14 April 1993) is an English professional cricketer who plays internationally for the England Test cricket team. In domestic cricket, he represents Durham, captaining the ListA and t20 teams.

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He previously played for Yorkshire. Lees made his Test debut in 2022, and plays as a left-handed opening batsman.[1]

Early life

Alex Lees was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, where he attended Holy Trinity Senior School. His introduction to cricket was with Bradshaw Cricket Club in the Halifax Cricket League, quickly moving from the junior ranks into senior cricket before he was a teenager. Lees left Bradshaw and move to Illingworth at the age of 13. He was attached to Yorkshire from 2006, starting at under 11 level. He played for and captained the Yorkshire Academy in the Yorkshire ECB County Premier League, and the Yorkshire Second XI in the Second XI Championship, before progressing to the first team. He made his debut in first-class cricket against India A in June 2010, scoring 38 runs. In April 2013, Lees made his maiden first-class century in his third first-class match, when scoring 121 against Leeds/Bradford MCC Universities at Headingley.[2]

Cricket career

He was part of the England player development XI in both 2010 and 2011. In September 2011, Yorkshire County Cricket Club announced that Lees had been awarded a junior-pro contract.[3] He was given plaudits from the former England opener Geoffrey Boycott, who stated that "I think he's very good ... I like the whole package with him".[4]

Lees played his first match against an England first-class county side in April 2013, when he appeared for Yorkshire against Sussex, and scored a century in his third County Championship match with 100 against Middlesex at Lord's.[5] In July, he played only the 50th innings of over 250 runs for Yorkshire, scoring 275 not out in the first innings of the match against Derbyshire at Queen's Park, Chesterfield.[6] His innings was the third-highest score at the ground[4] and also made him the youngest Yorkshire player to score a double hundred.[7]

In August 2013, Lees was selected to play for England Lions in a two-day friendly match against the Australians at Northampton, opening the batting and scoring 33 runs. He then travelled to Australia with the England Performance Squad, though he did not pass fifty.[8] He also played for the Lions against Sri Lanka A Emerging Players in February 2014, scoring a century in the first match.[9][10]

In September 2014, Lees was named the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year.[11] On 13 August 2018, Lees signed for Durham on loan until the end of the 2018 season before signing a three-year contract at the end of the season.[12]

In February 2022, Lees was named in England's Test squad for their series against the West Indies.[13] He made his Test debut on 8 March 2022, for England against the West Indies.[14]

In April 2022, in the opening round of matches in the 2022 County Championship, Lees carried his bat against Glamorgan, scoring an unbeaten 182 runs.[15]

In July 2023 he scored his best score for Durham County Cricket Club scoring 195 before getting out LBW from Matthew Taylor.

References

  1. [1]
    "Alex Lees profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos".
  2. [2]
    "Tea: Yorkshire v Leeds MCCU (Day 3)". Yorkshireccc.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  3. [3]
    "Yorkshire Secure Young Talent". Yorkshireccc.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  4. [4]
    Hardcastle, Graham (18 July 2013). "Boycott prophecy fulfilled on Lees". ESPN CricInfo. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  5. [5]
    "Middlesex v Yorkshire at Lord's, Jun 11–14, 2013 | Cricket Scorecard". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  6. [6]
    "Derbyshire v Yorkshire at Chesterfield, Jul 17–19, 2013 | Cricket Scorecard". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  7. [7]
    "Player Profile: Alex Lees". ESPN CricInfo. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  8. [8]
    "Western Australia Second XI v England Performance Programme". ESPN CricInfo. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  9. [9]
    "Sri Lanka A Emerging Players v England Lions". ESPN CricInfo. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  10. [10]
    Winter, Alex (13 February 2014). "Woakes puts Lions in firm control". ESPN CricInfo. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  11. [11]
    "BBC Sport - Yorkshire: Adam Lyth and Alex Lees win Cricket Writers' awards". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  12. [12]
    "Alex Lees: Durham sign Yorkshire opening batsman". BBC Sport. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  13. [13]
    "James Anderson, Stuart Broad dropped from England Test squad for West Indies". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  14. [14]
    "1st Test, North Sound, Mar 8 - 12 2022, England tour of West Indies". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  15. [15]
    "Alex Lees carries bat but Durham unable to force victory over Glamorgan". The Cricketer. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
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