Jamal Richards

Jamal Richards (born 3 March 2004) is an English cricketer who plays for Essex County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and right arm medium pace bowler.

Jamal Richards

Personal information
Born	(2004-03-03) 3 March 2004 (age 20) Edmonton, London, England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	All-Rounder
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2022–present	Essex (squad no. 87)
FC debut	26 May 2023 Essex v Ireland
LA debut	5 August 2022 Essex v Derbyshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A Matches 1 11 Runs scored 19 177 Batting average – 25.28 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 Top score 17* 46 Balls bowled 156 344 Wickets 5 8 Bowling average 26.00 40.37 5 wickets in innings 1 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 5/96 2/37 Catches/stumpings 0/– 1/–
Source: Cricinfo, 29 September 2023

Early life

From Edmonton, London, Richards attended Norlington School in Waltham Forest. He was introduced to cricket aged four by his Jamaican grandfather Franklin Dickson, who would take him to the cricket club in Walthamstow.^[1] He started playing age-group cricket with Essex in 2016, at eleven years-old.^[2] He represented London and the East of England at the Bunbury Cricket Festival in 2019.^[3]

Career

Richards made his Second-XI debut for Essex in 2021 and signed a rookie contract with the club in early 2022.^[4] He made his debut in List-A cricket for Essex on 5 August 2022, against Derbyshire at Chelmsford, with Richards top-scoring in the Essex innings with 46 from 44 balls.^[5] At the 2022 Essex end of season awards Richards won the first XI young player of the year award.^[6]

He signed a new contract with Essex in February 2023.^[7] Speaking soon after this, Richards said that he is focused on playing all formats of the game.^[8] Richards made his first-class cricket debut on 26 May 2023 as Essex played against Ireland at Chelmsford.^[9] He took 5-96 on debut.^[10]

Style of play

An all-rounder, Essex Cricket head coach Anthony McGrath was quoted in 2023 as saying that during his debut season Richards had displayed “moments of brilliance when featuring in our One-Day Cup side…Jamal is one of the brightest talents on the County circuit. He has raw pace with ball in hand and can hit it a long way with the bat too."^[11]

International career

He played for England national under-19 cricket team and England Lions against Sri Lanka and Australia in the winter of 2022-2023.^[12]

References

1. "JAMAL RICHARDS ON HIS ROYAL LONDON CUP CAMPAIGN". Essex Cricket. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
2. "Jamal Richards". Essex Cricket. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
3. Yip, Ann (12 August 2019). "Talented cricketer represents his region at Bunbury Cricket Festival". Guardian-series. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
4. "GETTING TO KNOW JAMAL RICHARDS". Essex cricket. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
5. "Guest checks into Chelmsford to lead Derbyshire to victory". espncricinfo. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
6. "SNATER SCOOPS THREE HONOURS AT END OF SEASON AWARDS". Essex Cricket. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
7. Jeeves, Brian (24 February 2023). "Jamal pens new Essex deal". Yellow Advertiser. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
8. "Jamal Richards: I'm hoping to get into all three squads". bbc.co.uk. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
9. "Essex vs Ireland". ESPN Cricinfo. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
10. "Paul Stirling finds form ahead of Ireland-England Test with ton against Essex". Belfast Telegraph. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
11. "Essex allrounder Jamal Richards signs first senior deal". The Cricketer. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
12. Duke-Giles, Scott (19 May 2023). "T20 Blast 2023: Young players to watch". The Cricketer. Retrieved 21 May 2023.