Andy Afford

Infobox Recent cricketer


nationality = English
country = England
country abbrev = Eng
name = Andy Afford
picture = Replace this image male.svg
batting style = Right-handed batsman (RHB)
bowling style = Slow left arm orthodox
FCs = 170
FC runs = 398
FC bat avg = 4.18
FC 100s/50s = 0/0
FC top score = 22*
FC balls = 33757
FC wickets = 468
FC bowl avg = 32.98
FC 5s = 16
FC 10s = 2
FC best bowling = 6/51
FC catches/stumpings = 57/-
List As = 52
List A runs = 6
List A bat avg = 2
List A 100s/50s = 0/0
List A top score = 2*
List A balls = 2800
List A wickets = 48
List A bowl avg = 37.33
List A 5s = 0
List A 10s = n/a
List A best bowling = 4/38
List A catches/stumpings = 10/-
debut date = April 21
debut year = 1984
last date = May 7
last year = 1996
source = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4189/4189.html

John Andrew Afford (born May 12, 1964, in Crowland, Lincolnshire) was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a left-arm slow bowler who played for Nottinghamshire.

Afford made his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire against Oxford University, during the 1984 season, though he neither batted nor bowled during the match, Nottinghamshire declaring in the second innings with zero wickets to their discredit. He went on to appear in one game during the 1984 County Championship season, but it wasn't until two years later that he would get a more regular first-team place, playing just two County Championship games during the 1985 season, also.

In 1986, he appeared in first-class cricket more often than he appeared in the Second XI, whilst also making an appearance in the Second XI Trophy. He still scored only 19 runs with the bat from 15 innings, stuck in the position of eleventh in the batting order. The 1986 County Championship table finished with Nottinghamshire in fourth position, but it was the following year that the team struck gold, when it won the County Championship due to a nine-wicket victory in the last round of fixtures, though Afford did not play in this match.

Afford played several times in the Second XI Championship in 1987 and 1988, limiting his chances with the first XI, though he returned to play several matches for the first team in 1989, after taking three wickets against Oxford University in the first game of the season. Nottinghamshire, however, finished the 1989 season further down in the table than they would have felt comfortable with, after their previous good form, having suffered a 25-point penalty for maintaining a substandard pitch. On a more positive note, the team finished the year having won the Benson and Hedges Cup competition, with Afford winning the Man of the Match award in the semi-final and taking the wicket of Essex's Graham Gooch in the final.

Afford started the following season promisingly, making the selection for an England A fixture against Zimbabwe in 1990 which the team won by nine wickets, and in which team-mate and three-time Test cricketer Steve Watkin took a 23-ball duck batting from tenth in the order. He finished the year being awarded his cap.

In 1991 the team's Second XI flourished, winning the Second XI Trophy with Afford putting in a strong bowling performance along the way to Nottinghamshire's top placing in the North Zone, and taking the wicket of Ally Brown in the final. Afford, now partnered on a regular basis by former England Test batsman Eddie Hemmings, still played Test cricket well into his 40s, finding a renewed sense of self-confidence, resulting in several creditable spells with the bat.

Afford's 1992 season did not start well, with his first four matches including an innings-margin defeat, but the team managed to claw their way back to fourth place in the table, while he played just two matches in List A cricket during the year. In 1994 and 1995, Afford was part of a team which got to two consecutive B&H Cup quarter-finals. In the meantime, Afford's advancing years meant that he found himself less able to play for the team on a weekly basis, returning to a solid level of fitness for the 1996 season. However, the team had plummeted from the heights of earlier in Afford's career, finishing second-bottom in the County Championship table, with the only team below them, Durham, winless in seventeen matches. Afford would play just once more for the team before hanging up his gloves.

In total, Afford took 468 first-class wickets, including hauls of 10 wickets in a match on two occasions, and five-wicket innings on sixteen occasions, with his best batting haul of 6-51 coming against Lancashire and two ten-wicket innings to his name, coming against Kent and Sussex.

Andy Afford is currently the editor of All Out Cricket, a monthly English cricket magazine.

External links

* [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4189/4189.html Andy Afford] at Cricket Archive
* [http://www.alloutcricket.co.uk All Out Cricket website]