David Fulton
Encyclopedia
David Paul Fulton is a former English
cricket
er. He was a right-handed opening batsman, who occasionally bowled left-arm orthodox spin
. He played first-class cricket for Kent
for 15 years until 2006. He is now a cricket journalist with The Times
and Sky Sports
.
in Tonbridge
and the University of Kent
, Fulton joined Kent in 1992. His first-class debut came at Fenner's
, where he scored 16 and 42 in the match against Cambridge University
. Later that year he appeared in the University Championship final for the University of Kent, where he contributed 10 runs in the defeat to the University of Durham.
In 1993, he took the catch to dismiss Viv Richards
in his final first-class innings.
Once established in the first-team, Fulton performed consistently in the seasons between 1995 and 1998, where he averaged over 30 every year. 1996 also saw Fulton take his only first-class wicket; that of Oxford University
batsman William Kendall
, caught and bowled. Fulton's best run-scoring return was 954 runs
in 1998, a season in which he hit his first double century. Playing against Yorkshire
at Mote Park, Maidstone
, Fulton posted 207 not out
over the course of ten-and-a-half hours to save Kent from a heavy defeat. However, his innings was criticized by some, notably Clive Ellis of The Daily Telegraph
, of being so slow that it prevented Kent from reaching a position to set a target.
His run-scoring returns declined in 1999 and 2000, whilst his average slipped into the mid-twenties. However, 2001 proved a much more productive year. In eighteen first-class matches, Fulton scored a total of 1892 runs, at an average of 75.68. His form over the season was noticed by the national selectors, who according to Nasser Hussain
, originally selected him in place of Mark Butcher
for the fourth Test against Australia, before having a change of heart and reinstating Butcher. Nonetheless, Fulton was named Player of the Year by the Professional Cricketers' Association
at the end of the season.
, with Fulton leading the side in first-class cricket and Fleming leading in one-day matches. The captaincy did not affect his batting, as he scored 1358 runs, his second thousand-run season in succession. The Australian captain Steve Waugh
, in his brief spell as overseas player for Kent, remarked that he could be "a future England captain"
Whilst preparing for the 2003 season, Fulton was hit in the eye by a ball from a bowling machine, whilst practising the pull shot. The injury ruled him out for the first eight weeks of the season, and Fulton admitted upon standing down from the captaincy three seasons later that his eye was still troubling him. Despite this, he still managed to score over 600 runs in eleven matches. He consistently scored runs for the next three seasons, whilst helping Kent challenge for first-class honours. 2004 saw Kent finish second to Warwickshire
, and his side also challenged for the 2005 title.
He stepped down from the one-day captaincy after being dropped, ahead of Kent's C&G Trophy quarter-final against Warwickshire in 2005. Handing the one-day captaincy to Matthew Walker
, he continued as first-class captain until the end of the season, where a run-chase agreement led to him being criticized by other county captains. In an attempt to keep his side's Championship hopes alive, he agreed to chase a target of 420 in 70 overs with Nottinghamshire
captain Stephen Fleming
; Kent managed only to reach 210. The win for Nottinghamshire secured them the Championship. Shane Warne
, the Hampshire
captain whose side were also in the running for the title, described the agreement as "one of the dumbest things I have ever seen." Fulton stood down as captain a week later.
Fulton was awarded a benefit year in 2006, with proceeds totalling £105,000, half of which was given to charity. He retired at the end of the season, having scored 155 in his final first-class innings; against Middlesex
. Owing to club captain Rob Key
being rested and stand-in captain Martin van Jaarsveld
being in hospital, Fulton led the side on to the field during the final session as acting captain.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er. He was a right-handed opening batsman, who occasionally bowled left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch...
. He played first-class cricket for Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
for 15 years until 2006. He is now a cricket journalist with The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
.
Early career
Having been educated at The Judd SchoolThe Judd School
The Judd School is a state secondary school in Tonbridge, Kent, southeast England. It was established in 1888 at Stafford House on East Street in Tonbridge, where it remained for eight years before moving to its present location on Brook Street, in the south of the town...
in Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
and the University of Kent
University of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
, Fulton joined Kent in 1992. His first-class debut came at Fenner's
Fenner's
Fenner's is the University of Cambridge's cricket ground.-History:Fenner's has hosted first-class cricket since 1848, and many of the world's great players have graced the wicket. The ground was established on land leased for the purpose by Francis Fenner, after whom the ground is named.Playing for...
, where he scored 16 and 42 in the match against Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
. Later that year he appeared in the University Championship final for the University of Kent, where he contributed 10 runs in the defeat to the University of Durham.
In 1993, he took the catch to dismiss Viv Richards
Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
in his final first-class innings.
Once established in the first-team, Fulton performed consistently in the seasons between 1995 and 1998, where he averaged over 30 every year. 1996 also saw Fulton take his only first-class wicket; that of Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
batsman William Kendall
William Kendall (cricketer)
William Salwey Kendall is a former English cricketer who played over 200 games for Hampshire around the turn of the 21st century, having earlier appeared on a number of occasions for Oxford University.Kendall's highest first-class score of 201 was achieved against Sussex in 1999 under somewhat...
, caught and bowled. Fulton's best run-scoring return was 954 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
in 1998, a season in which he hit his first double century. Playing against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
at Mote Park, Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, Fulton posted 207 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
over the course of ten-and-a-half hours to save Kent from a heavy defeat. However, his innings was criticized by some, notably Clive Ellis of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, of being so slow that it prevented Kent from reaching a position to set a target.
His run-scoring returns declined in 1999 and 2000, whilst his average slipped into the mid-twenties. However, 2001 proved a much more productive year. In eighteen first-class matches, Fulton scored a total of 1892 runs, at an average of 75.68. His form over the season was noticed by the national selectors, who according to Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain OBE is a former Essex and England cricketer.Beginning his career in a strong Essex side in the late 1980s, he was an outstanding fielder and a stylish but inconsistent batsman. In first-class cricket from 1987 to 2004 Hussain scored 20,698 runs in 334 matches at an average of 42.06,...
, originally selected him in place of Mark Butcher
Mark Butcher
Mark Alan Butcher is a former English Test cricketer, who played county cricket for Surrey from 1992 until his retirement from the sport in 2009. He was a left-handed batsman, and occasional right-arm medium-pace bowler....
for the fourth Test against Australia, before having a change of heart and reinstating Butcher. Nonetheless, Fulton was named Player of the Year by the Professional Cricketers' Association
Professional Cricketers' Association
The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967...
at the end of the season.
Captaincy and later career
The 2002 season saw Fulton share the captaincy with Matthew FlemingMatthew Fleming
Matthew Valentine Fleming is a former cricketer who represented Kent and England.Born out of his time, his background was Eton and the Royal Greenjackets, his approach was cavalier. His first 2 scoring shots in first class cricket were sixes.He played 11 One Day Internationals but no Test matches...
, with Fulton leading the side in first-class cricket and Fleming leading in one-day matches. The captaincy did not affect his batting, as he scored 1358 runs, his second thousand-run season in succession. The Australian captain Steve Waugh
Steve Waugh
Stephen Rodger "Steve" Waugh, AO is a former Australian cricketer and fraternal twin of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a successful medium-pace bowler...
, in his brief spell as overseas player for Kent, remarked that he could be "a future England captain"
Whilst preparing for the 2003 season, Fulton was hit in the eye by a ball from a bowling machine, whilst practising the pull shot. The injury ruled him out for the first eight weeks of the season, and Fulton admitted upon standing down from the captaincy three seasons later that his eye was still troubling him. Despite this, he still managed to score over 600 runs in eleven matches. He consistently scored runs for the next three seasons, whilst helping Kent challenge for first-class honours. 2004 saw Kent finish second to Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
, and his side also challenged for the 2005 title.
He stepped down from the one-day captaincy after being dropped, ahead of Kent's C&G Trophy quarter-final against Warwickshire in 2005. Handing the one-day captaincy to Matthew Walker
Matthew Walker (English cricketer)
Matthew Jonathan Walker is an English cricketer, who played for Kent County Cricket Club until 2008. He now plays for Essex County Cricket Club.-Early career:...
, he continued as first-class captain until the end of the season, where a run-chase agreement led to him being criticized by other county captains. In an attempt to keep his side's Championship hopes alive, he agreed to chase a target of 420 in 70 overs with Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
captain Stephen Fleming
Stephen Fleming
Stephen Paul Fleming ONZM is a New Zealand cricketer, and the former captain of the New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, in Test and one-day cricket...
; Kent managed only to reach 210. The win for Nottinghamshire secured them the Championship. Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
, the Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
captain whose side were also in the running for the title, described the agreement as "one of the dumbest things I have ever seen." Fulton stood down as captain a week later.
Fulton was awarded a benefit year in 2006, with proceeds totalling £105,000, half of which was given to charity. He retired at the end of the season, having scored 155 in his final first-class innings; against Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
. Owing to club captain Rob Key
Robert Key (cricketer)
Robert William Trevor Key is an English cricketer. He is the captain of Kent County Cricket Club, and a former member of the England Test match and One Day International sides....
being rested and stand-in captain Martin van Jaarsveld
Martin van Jaarsveld
Martin van Jaarsveld is a South African cricketer who played nine Tests and eleven One Day Internationals for South Africa between 2002 and 2004...
being in hospital, Fulton led the side on to the field during the final session as acting captain.