Rikki
Clarke

Biography

Rikki Clarke enjoyed a meteoric rise into England's reckoning and looked capable of becoming a realistic rival to Andrew Flintoff as an international-class all-rounder.

Tall and technically-correct at the crease with a classical medium-paced action, Clarke showed early promise by hitting a century on his first class debut for Surrey against Cambridge UCCE and followed that with 153 against Somerset at Taunton.

Those performances earned him the prestigious Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year award in 2002 and, aged just 20, he was called up by England for that winter's Champions Trophy squad in Sri Lanka.

He returned to the one-day squad after that winter's World Cup and enjoyed a dream start, dismissing Imran Nazir to claim a wicket with his first delivery in international cricket on his one-day international debut against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 2003.

Clarke also impressed in helping England secure victory over South Africa in a day-night international at Edgbaston later that summer when captain Michael Vaughan remarked he had that ""Surrey strut about him"" during his confident innings of 37 off 34 balls.

England drafted him into their Test squad for the tour of Bangladesh after Flnitoff withdrew with injury, but Clarke struggled to impose himself in that arena and drifted out of the reckoning after disappointing tours of Sri Lanka and West Indies.

He was recalled to the England fold in 2006 when he featured in the home one-day international series against Pakistan and was called into England's Champions Trophy squad in India that winterw, although he failed to break into the side during the tournament.

Following his return to the UK, he struggled to maintain his form and lost his place for Surrey during the 2007 season and moved to Derbyshire as captain for the following summer, only to quite in the August after struggling to find his best form.

He decided to leave Derbyshire just a few weeks later and was quickly snapped up by Warwickshire, who had long admired his ability, where he hoped to re-establish himself as a player capable of performing on the international stage.