Alex Wakely

Alex Wakely

Personal information
Full name	Alex George Wakely
Born	(1988-11-03) 3 November 1988 (age 35) Hammersmith, London, England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm medium Right-arm off break
Role	Middle Order Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2004–2021	Northamptonshire (squad no. 8)
2004–2009	Bedfordshire
FC debut	13 July 2007 Northants v Somerset
Last FC	8 April 2021 Northants v Kent
LA debut	4 May 2005 Bedfordshire v Sussex
Last LA	20 June 2019 Northants v Australia A
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20 Matches 148 90 133 Runs scored 6,880 2,532 2,597 Batting average 31.27 32.88 26.23 100s/50s 9/37 2/18 0/14 Top score 123 109* 64 Balls bowled 509 136 12 Wickets 6 5 0 Bowling average 71.00 26.20 – 5 wickets in innings 0 0 – 10 wickets in match 0 0 – Best bowling 2/62 2/14 – Catches/stumpings 98/– 32/– 42/–
Source: Cricinfo, 26 May 2021

Alex George Wakely (born 3 November 1988) is an English former cricketer who played for Northamptonshire and was also a former captain of the England under-19s. He is a right-hand batsman, bowls off-breaks and sometimes medium pace bowling. In May 2021, Wakely announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.^[1]

Born 3 November 1988 in Hammersmith, London, Wakely attended Bedford School. While at the school Wakely was coached by the former England batsman Derek Randall. After his A-levels, Wakely chose to focus on playing cricket professionally, and being a part time pianist.^[2]

In 2004, Wakely joined the staff of Northamptonshire whilst still in full-time education. He scored 81* on his Northamptonshire Second XI debut aged just 15. In July 2007, he made his first-class debut for Northamptonshire against Somerset. He made scores of 38 and 66, as well as taking two wickets including that of Marcus Trescothick.^[3] He played three more first-class matches in 2007 but after scoring 55 against Nottinghamshire he managed only single figure scores in his last five innings. After that poor run of form, he had a spell in the second XI before returning to the first XI in 2009. On 16 June that year, Wakely scored his maiden first-class century against Glamorgan, scoring 113*.^[4] For the 2010 season, Wakely was given more of a first team role and began to realise his potential with a century against Middlesex at Lord's.^[5]

For the 2013 season, Wakely captained the Northants team in limited overs cricket. This proved to be a successful move; the team finished second in its group in the 40 over league,^[6] and won the T20 competition.^[7] Wakely played in all of the T20 matches that season and played a key role in the final, scoring 59 from 30 balls.^[8]

He missed the whole of the 2014 season because of an Achilles tendon injury that he received during the club's pre-season tour of Barbados.^[9]

He returned for the 2015 season recovered, and having been appointed captain in all forms of cricket.^[10] He scored two first-class centuries in the season, including a personal highest score of 123 against Leicestershire.^[11] Northants once again reached the final of the T20 competition, but this time lost to Lancashire.^[12] The next year, Northants returned to Twenty20 finals day with Wakely again captain, and were this time victorious. He was involved in century partnerships in both the semi-final and the final. In the semi, against Notts he and Ben Duckett took Northants from 15/3 to 138/4, himself scoring 53 from 45 balls.^[13] The final was versus Durham, and Wakely came in to bat with the score at 9/3, and shared in a partnership of 120 with Josh Cobb.^[14]

Wakely was picked for the England under-19s tour of Sri Lanka in 2006/07. He scored England's only century of the tri-nation series with 108 from 140 balls against Sri Lanka. In August, he scored a century on his 'Test' debut for England under-19s against Pakistan. On 1 October 2007, he was selected as the England under-19s captain for the 2008 World Cup^[15]

• Alex Wakely at ESPNcricinfo
• Player Profile: Alex Wakely from northantscricket.com