Ryan Driver
Encyclopedia
Ryan Craig Driver is an English
cricket
er who played first-class cricket
for Worcestershire
and Lancashire
around the turn of the 21st century. He has captained the Jersey cricket team
.
Driver was born in Truro
, Cornwall
, and made his first List A appearance for his home-county club
against Warwickshire
in the 1996 NatWest Trophy. It proved a disappointing opening to his career in major cricket, as he was run out
for nought. He also played a few minor games for Cornwall that season, as well as appearing several times for Derbyshire
's Second XI and once for Somerset
's seconds.
In 1997 he joined Worcestershire, but playing a handful of second-team games whilst also at Durham University, ending his three years of study and cricket as Durham University's Sportsman of the Year. He was also selected for British Universities. 1998 brought him his first-class debut against Durham
, making 5 and 0, and had to wait until the middle of 1999 for another chance. In this game, against the New Zealanders
, Driver scored 8 and 18, and once more he returned to the seconds. He did, however, play one National League
and two County Championship
game at the end of the season, his score of note being the 42 he made against Essex
.
Driver at last got a run in the Worcestershire side in 2000. In 20 first-class innings he averaged
under 24, while in one-day cricket
he averaged under 20. He did manage to make his career-best first-class and List A scores within a few days of each other in mid-June: 64 against Sussex
in the Championship, then 61 not out
against Gloucestershire
in the NatWest Trophy; the latter performance won him the man-of-the-match award. 2000 also brought Driver his first wickets both at first-class level (Paul Johnson
) and in List A games (Warren Hegg
).
For 2001 he moved to Lancashire
with the indication of a regular first-team place, and an unbeaten 179 for the seconds in early May was sufficient to give him his opportunity. However, a total of 47 runs in five first-class innings saw him dropped until he hit 222 not out for the second team in late July and was recalled for the Championship match against Glamorgan
at Colwyn Bay
. In this he failed, making only 9 and 2; that proved his last first-class game of the season, although he did make a single Norwich Union League
appearance in September. He had never been given the run and chances in the First team that he had been led to believe he would receive.
In 2002 he played only five first-class games, the same as in 2001, and although he hit 25*
against Durham UCCE and 56 against Kent
he then, in his limited opportunities, scored 1, 5, 5, 16*, 0 and 5. In the one-day game he hit just 30 runs in four innings. He was never to return to the Lancashire side, and he ended a couple of years to forget with overall averages for the county of 14.71 in first-class cricket and a in the one-day format.
After leaving Lancashire, Driver returned to playing for Cornwall (winning the Minor Counties Batsman of the Year award with an average of over 94.3, the award presented by Tom Graveney at Lords) where he continued until 2005, and at this level he had considerably more success with the bat, hitting four centuries in two years in the Minor Counties Championship as well as a number of fifties. He played two List A games in 2003 in the C&G Trophy
, the second of these (and Driver's last appearance in major cricket) coming in Amstelveen against the Netherlands
; he made 18 and took the wicket of Tjade Groot. He has also played for Truro Cricket Club,
for whom he was Director of Coaching in 2004.
Also in 2005, Driver started work as a teacher at a Jersey
school, and played club cricket
for an island team, Romerils.
He appeared for the Jersey cricket team
against Guernsey
in the annual insular tournament, and in 2006 was named as coach for Jersey's first competitive international tournament when the island competed in the European Cricket Council Division II Championship in Scotland
.
Driver was unable to play in the competition himself as he did not satisfy the eligibility criteria, having not been resident in Jersey for long enough, but he qualified in time for the 2008 tournament. In 2009 he was appointed as the Island team's new captain.
In 2010 he resigned to concentrate on playing for Jersey and his club. In July 2010 he was Player of the Tournament at the European Division 1 Championships in Jersey at the competition featuring Scotland A, Ireland A, Netherlands A, Denmark, Italy and Jersey. Driver's contribution helped his side win the Championship for the first time.
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 who played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire 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 Worcestershire...
and Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
around the turn of the 21st century. He has captained the Jersey cricket team
Jersey cricket team
The Jersey cricket team is the team that represents the Crown dependency of Jersey in international cricket matches. They became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2005, and an associate member in 2007....
.
Driver was born in Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, and made his first List A appearance for his home-county club
Cornwall County Cricket Club
Cornwall County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Cornwall and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
against 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...
in the 1996 NatWest Trophy. It proved a disappointing opening to his career in major cricket, as he was run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
for nought. He also played a few minor games for Cornwall that season, as well as appearing several times for Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
's Second XI and once for Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset 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 Somerset...
's seconds.
In 1997 he joined Worcestershire, but playing a handful of second-team games whilst also at Durham University, ending his three years of study and cricket as Durham University's Sportsman of the Year. He was also selected for British Universities. 1998 brought him his first-class debut against Durham
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
, making 5 and 0, and had to wait until the middle of 1999 for another chance. In this game, against the New Zealanders
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
, Driver scored 8 and 18, and once more he returned to the seconds. He did, however, play one National League
National League (cricket)
The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect the fact that large numbers of matches were played on days other than Sunday.-Sunday League:The...
and two County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
game at the end of the season, his score of note being the 42 he made against Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
.
Driver at last got a run in the Worcestershire side in 2000. In 20 first-class innings he averaged
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
under 24, while in one-day cricket
One-day cricket
Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket and in a slightly different context as List A cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day, whereas Test and first-class matches can take up to five days to complete...
he averaged under 20. He did manage to make his career-best first-class and List A scores within a few days of each other in mid-June: 64 against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
in the Championship, then 61 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...
against Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
in the NatWest Trophy; the latter performance won him the man-of-the-match award. 2000 also brought Driver his first wickets both at first-class level (Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson (cricketer)
Paul Johnson is a former English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He is most well known for a 21-year career with Nottinghamshire...
) and in List A games (Warren Hegg
Warren Hegg
Warren Kevin Hegg is an English cricketer. He played County Cricket for Lancashire. Although primarily a wicket-keeper, Hegg was also a handy lower-order batsman, and made several first-class hundreds...
).
For 2001 he moved to Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
with the indication of a regular first-team place, and an unbeaten 179 for the seconds in early May was sufficient to give him his opportunity. However, a total of 47 runs in five first-class innings saw him dropped until he hit 222 not out for the second team in late July and was recalled for the Championship match against Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
at Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay Cricket Club Ground
Penrhyn Avenue is a cricket ground in Colwyn Bay, Wales. The ground was first used by the Glamorgan 1st XI in 1966, although County Championship matches have only been an annual fixture since 1990...
. In this he failed, making only 9 and 2; that proved his last first-class game of the season, although he did make a single Norwich Union League
National League (cricket)
The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect the fact that large numbers of matches were played on days other than Sunday.-Sunday League:The...
appearance in September. He had never been given the run and chances in the First team that he had been led to believe he would receive.
In 2002 he played only five first-class games, the same as in 2001, and although he hit 25*
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...
against Durham UCCE and 56 against 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...
he then, in his limited opportunities, scored 1, 5, 5, 16*, 0 and 5. In the one-day game he hit just 30 runs in four innings. He was never to return to the Lancashire side, and he ended a couple of years to forget with overall averages for the county of 14.71 in first-class cricket and a in the one-day format.
After leaving Lancashire, Driver returned to playing for Cornwall (winning the Minor Counties Batsman of the Year award with an average of over 94.3, the award presented by Tom Graveney at Lords) where he continued until 2005, and at this level he had considerably more success with the bat, hitting four centuries in two years in the Minor Counties Championship as well as a number of fifties. He played two List A games in 2003 in the C&G Trophy
C&G Trophy
The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom.It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties compete each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland...
, the second of these (and Driver's last appearance in major cricket) coming in Amstelveen against the Netherlands
Dutch cricket team
The Dutch cricket team is a national cricket team representing the Netherlands. It is administered by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond which is based in Nieuwegein in the centre of the country and is older than many renowned cricket clubs in the West Indies, Australia, and New...
; he made 18 and took the wicket of Tjade Groot. He has also played for Truro Cricket Club,
for whom he was Director of Coaching in 2004.
Also in 2005, Driver started work as a teacher at a Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
school, and played club cricket
Club cricket
Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are always observed...
for an island team, Romerils.
He appeared for the Jersey cricket team
Jersey cricket team
The Jersey cricket team is the team that represents the Crown dependency of Jersey in international cricket matches. They became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2005, and an associate member in 2007....
against Guernsey
Guernsey cricket team
The Guernsey cricket team is the team that represents the Crown dependency of Guernsey in international cricket matches. They became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 2008.-International Competition:...
in the annual insular tournament, and in 2006 was named as coach for Jersey's first competitive international tournament when the island competed in the European Cricket Council Division II Championship in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Driver was unable to play in the competition himself as he did not satisfy the eligibility criteria, having not been resident in Jersey for long enough, but he qualified in time for the 2008 tournament. In 2009 he was appointed as the Island team's new captain.
In 2010 he resigned to concentrate on playing for Jersey and his club. In July 2010 he was Player of the Tournament at the European Division 1 Championships in Jersey at the competition featuring Scotland A, Ireland A, Netherlands A, Denmark, Italy and Jersey. Driver's contribution helped his side win the Championship for the first time.
External links
- Statistical summary from CricketArchiveCricketArchiveCricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...