Just been looking at the Lancashire twitter feed. It's not illegal!

I wanted to see if there was any reaction to Wagner joining Essex or news of Giles moving to Warwickshire is my excuse. Anyway I did see a lovely picture of a very young Haseeb Hameed in 2008 receiving a young cricketer award and it got me wondering.

Does anybody know any cricketers who came late to the game and had a successful first class or even International career, or is it impossible. By late I mean older than 18.

Was thinking of a cricketing equivalent of Jamie Vardy, although that really doesn't work as he was with Sheffield Wednesday as a junior, he just didn't make the grade at that time.

Jack Iverson

Just been looking at the Lancashire twitter feed. It's not illegal!

I wanted to see if there was any reaction to Wagner joining Essex or news of Giles moving to Warwickshire is my excuse. Anyway I did see a lovely picture of a very young Haseeb Hameed in 2008 receiving a young cricketer award and it got me wondering.

Does anybody know any cricketers who came late to the game and had a successful first class or even International career, or is it impossible. By late I mean older than 18.

Was thinking of a cricketing equivalent of Jamie Vardy, although that really doesn't work as he was with Sheffield Wednesday as a junior, he just didn't make the grade at that time.

Good question. Counties now have very extensive links with cricket clubs so any junior with potential is quickly 'seen' by the county club. Its hard to go under the radar.

Darren G was relatively late on the scene or at least as a 16 year old wasn't seen as having superstar potential. Gavin Hamilton?

Intersting last season I saw Yorks 2nds at York v Durham. I'm not wholly sure of the circumstances but the York CC groundsman played at short notice and this was his 2nd team debut, Liam McKendry aged 26, and he made a 100. Could be worth keeping an eye on what happens next.

EDIT: Just seen the post above by Remit - Jack Iveson, highly recommend the Gideon Haigh book 'Mystery spinner' outstanding.

I had never heard of Jack Iverson, must read the Mystery spinner.

He seems a bit like Vardy in that he obviously played cricket at school then either got fed up with it or didn't make the grade. Sounds like he played while he was in the army and that may have got him going again.

The services is somewhere you can pick up a new sport. I remember putting down rugby (thinking Rugby league obviously coming from Leeds) as my preferred sport when I joined the Navy.

I spent several sports afternoon struggling with a different beast altogether. I didn't subsequently rise to greatness alas, I changed my preference to cross-country.

Iverson was not only in the army, he was in a war! Stuck at some outpost in New Guinea, I seem to remember reading, where the lads messed around with a table tennis ball, which is easy to spin, of course. Having huge hands, it seems he had no problem transferring the skills to a cricket ball.

From descriptions, his mystery ball was similar to Ashwin's caroom ball. Certainly, the England players of the time - who were very used to facing spin - struggled to pick it.

The only other relatively old player I can remember was Jason Lewry, the Sussex left-armer. Apparently a Sussex XI was playing Lewry's club in aid of the benefit of one of the players, and Lewry ran through the top order, despite having only a four-pace run up! Invitation followed.

[I've just checked. He was 23 when he made his first class debut, which is a few years short of ancient.]

Doesn't Jack Brooks fit these requirements??

I seem to recall that Boycs was a relatively late developer in terms of first class cricket making his debut in 1962 at the age of 21 & a half.
Not ancient but by no means a teenage prodigy.

Jack Brooks.

Could Steve Kirby be considered in this category or is he more a journeyman who came good later in his career?

Brooks and Kirkby are reasonable examples. Perhaps Peter Hartley fits the bill?