- Chris Benham
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Chris Benham 
Personal information Full name Christopher Charles Benham Born 24 March 1983
Frimley, Surrey, EnglandNickname Benny, Benoit, Benloy Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Batting style Right-handed Bowling style Right arm off break Domestic team information Years Team 2011-present Wiltshire 2011-present Unicorns 2004–2010 Hampshire (squad no. 20) 2004 Loughborough UCCE 2001 Hampshire Cricket Board Career statistics Competition FC LA T20 Matches 48 61 37 Runs scored 2,103 1,715 447 Batting average 27.31 35.72 15.96 100s/50s 2/10 4/9 –/1 Top score 111 158 59 Balls bowled 30 1 – Wickets – – – Bowling average – – – 5 wickets in innings – – – 10 wickets in match – – – Best bowling – – – Catches/stumpings 51/– 26/– 20/– Source: Cricinfo, 29 May 2011 Christopher 'Chris' Charles Benham (born 24 March 1983) is an English cricketer. Benham is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off break. He was born at Frimley, Surrey. He attended Yateley School across the county border at Yateley in Hampshire.[1] Making his debut at the professional level for the Hampshire Cricket Board in 2001, he spent 6 years playing for Hampshire, before being released by the county after the 2010 season. He currently plays for the Unicorns.
Contents
Early career
Benham was first associated with Hampshire at the age of 10, becoming a product of the county's academy system.[2] It was in the 2001 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy that he made his debut in List A cricket for the Hampshire Cricket Board against the Kent Cricket Board. During the match he was dismissed for a duck by Andy Tutt.[3] Three years later, while attending Loughborough University, Benham made his first-class debut for Loughborough UCCE against Somerset. In the 2004 season, he made three further first-class appearances for the University, as well as making his Hampshire debut in the County Championship against Derbyshire. On debut he made his maiden half century, scoring 74 runs.[4]
The following season he became more of a feature in the Hampshire side in the County Championship, but would have to wait until 2006 to make his List A debut for the county, which eventually came against Kent in the 2006 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. Known as an aggressive middle-order batsman, it was in the 2006 Pro40 that he recorded his maiden century and highest score in all formats during his time at Hampshire. He scored an unbeaten 158 in the Promotion/Relegation match against Glamorgan, helping Hampshire to a 151 run win and promotion to Division 1[5] and winning praise from then Hampshire captain Shane Warne,[6] with Warne tipping him as a possible future Hampshire captain.[7] Benham did captain Hampshire, once in a first-class match in 2006 against Loughborough UCCE. At the end of the 2006 season, Benham was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award.
Struggle for consistency
Despite being a flare player with the bat, Benham had to wait until the 2006 Twenty20 Cup to make his Twenty20 debut against Sussex. It was perhaps in this format that the inconsistency which plagued him in his latter years with Hampshire was most evident. In a format of the game that would on the face of it seem to suite Benham's natural game, he struggled in his four years representing Hampshire in the format. In those four years he played 37 Twenty20 matches, scoring 447 runs at a poor batting average of 15.96, with just a single half century score of 59.[8] Indeed, in the 2010 Friends Provident t20 competition, he featured in just three fixtures.
Benham and Nic Pothas build their winning partnership in the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy final
In the first-class format he had to wait until the 2009 County Championship to record his first first-class century, making 111 against Loughborough UCCE, before following that up later in the season with a score of 100 against county champions Durham. The 2009 season was his best with the bat in the first-class format, scoring 316 runs and averaging 45.14.[9] In no other season in which he played more than a single match for Hampshire did he average over 40; in four of the seasons since 2004 he averaged under 30.[9]
Benham was a more consistent, yet equally inconsistent batsman in List A cricket. Following on from his success in the 2006 season, in which he averaged over 50, he had marked success on the pitch. In the 2007 Friends Provident Trophy he was a member of Hampshire's runner-up squad, although he did not feature in the final against Durham. Two years later he played a key role in the final of the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy against Sussex. He scored an unbeaten 37 and hit the winning runs as Hampshire won by 6 wickets at Lord's against Sussex. His innings was part of an unbeaten partnership of 67 with wicket-keeper Nic Pothas as Hampshire chased down their target of 220 to win the game.[10][11] By the end of the 2009 season, he had played 54 one-day matches for Hampshire, scoring 1,564 runs at an average of 36.37, with a high score of 158. He converted his starts in this format more often, making four centuries and seven half centuries.[12]
Come the 2010 County Championship, Benham started the season in the first-class starting XI, but throughout the season he failed to hold down a regular place in the team, due in part to the emergence of batsman James Vince. He did not feature in any one-day matches in 2010 and played just three Twenty20 fixtures, but was a member of Hampshire's 2010 Friends Provident t20 winning team. Come the end of the season, he had last featured in the County Championship in August against Yorkshire. This marked his final first-class match, by which since 2004 he had played in 45 fixtures, scoring 1,975 runs at an average of 27.05, with two centuries and ten half centuries.[13] His average perhaps demonstrated the inconsistency with which Benham had at the highest domestic level.
Joining the Unicorns
At the end of the 2010 season he was released by the county in October.[14][2] Following his release, Benham has stated his desire to still play cricket at the highest level.[2] On March 1, 2011 it was announced that Benham had signed for the Unicorns for the 2011 Clydesdale Bank 40.[15] His debut for the Unicorns came in their first match of the competition against Lancashire, with Benham scoring a single run before being dismissed by Glen Chapple.[16] After a couple of quiet games for the Unicorns, he scored his maiden half century for the team against Essex in May. Later in May he was offered a trial by Nottinghamshire,[17] before playing for Wiltshire in Minor counties cricket.[18]
References
- ^ Yateley School, Hampshire
- ^ a b c Chris Benham released by Hampshire
- ^ Kent Cricket Board v Hampshire Cricket Board, Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy 2001
- ^ Derbyshire v Hampshire, Frizzell County Championship 2004
- ^ Hampshire v Glamorgan, NatWest Pro40 League 2006 (Promotion/Relegation Play-off)
- ^ Benham praised after Pro40 ton
- ^ Benham deemed surplus to requirements
- ^ Twenty20 Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Chris Benham
- ^ a b First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Chris Benham
- ^ Hampshire v Sussex, Friends Provident Trophy 2009 (Final)
- ^ Sky Sports match report on the Friends Provident Trophy 2009
- ^ List A Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Chris Benham
- ^ First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Chris Benham
- ^ Hampshire Cricket Part Company with Chris Benham
- ^ Benham and Thornely in Unicorns squad
- ^ "Lancashire v Unicorns, 2011 Clydesdale Bank 40". CricketArchive. http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/316/316003.html. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ "Nottinghamshire hand trial to batsman Chris Benham". BBC Sport. 23 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/13506399.stm. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
- ^ "Duo called up to face champions". Bath Chronicle. 23 June 2011. http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Duo-called-face-champions/story-12821003-detail/story.html. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
External links
Categories:- 1983 births
- Living people
- People from Frimley
- People from Surrey
- Alumni of Loughborough University
- English cricketers
- Hampshire Cricket Board cricketers
- Loughborough University cricketers
- Hampshire cricketers
- Hampshire cricket captains
- Unicorns cricketers
- Wiltshire cricketers
- NBC Denis Compton Award recipients
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