Andrew Birch (cricketer)

Andrew Charles Ross Birch (born 7 June 1985) is a South African cricketer who plays for the Warriors cricket team.[1]

Andrew Birch
Personal information
Full nameAndrew Charles Ross Birch
Born (1985-06-07) 7 June 1985
East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa
NicknameSteaks
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-fast
RoleBowler
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005–2011Eastern Province
2007–presentWarriors
2019–presentDhaka Dynamites
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20
Matches 88 68 56
Runs scored 1,952 479 144
Batting average 16.68 14.51 9.00
100s/50s 0/6 0/1 0/0
Top score 88 55* 30
Balls bowled 15,307 3,046 1,102
Wickets 304 113 66
Bowling average 24.99 21.38 20.51
5 wickets in innings 11 0 1
10 wickets in match 0 n/a n/a
Best bowling 8/30 4/15 5/16
Catches/stumpings 34/– 11/– 12/–
Source: Cricinfo, 12 November 2016

Early life

Birch hails from the small Eastern Cape town of Dordrecht. He was educated at St Andrew's College in Grahamstown, before further his studies at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth. His grandfather Ernest Birch[2] played first-class cricket for Border in the 1940s and his elder brother Colin Birch[3] played for Western Province.

Playing career

Birch represented South Africa at the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh. He also represented the South African Students team whilst at NMMU.[4] He made his first-class debut for Eastern Province in January 2005 against Griqualand West in the UCB Provincial Cup.[5]

A bowling all-rounder, Birch graduated through the Eastern Province ranks to become the leader of the Warriors franchise attack, finishing as the Warriors leading wicket-taker in the 2012/13 and 2014/15 Sunfoil Series. He was also the Warriors leading wicket-taker in the Momentum One Day Cup in the 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2015/16 seasons, finishing as the competitions overall leading wicket taker in the 2012/13 season.

During his first innings haul of 4/57 against the Lions at the Wanderers in their fifth round Sunfoil Series clash of the 2016/217 season, Birch claimed his 300th first-class wicket when he had Mangaliso Mosehle caught at second slip by Simon Harmer.[6]

The Warriors finished as runners-up in the 2016–2017 CSA T20 Challenge, losing to the Titans in the final. Birch's 17 wickets from nine matches placed him second on the overall leading wicket-takers table,[7] with his 5 for 16 against the Titans on 2 December 2016 being both a personal career best as well as the single best figures in the competition.

Birch has also played for the South African 'A' side. In August 2017, he was named in Nelson Mandela Bay Stars' squad for the first season of the T20 Global League.[8] However, in October 2017, Cricket South Africa initially postponed the tournament until November 2018, with it being cancelled soon after.[9]

In October 2018, he was named in Tshwane Spartans' squad for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament.[10][11] Later the same month, he was named in the squad for the Dhaka Dynamites team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.[12]

References
  1. "Andrew Birch". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  2. "Ernest Birch". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  3. "Colin Birch". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  4. "NMMU National Representatives".
  5. "Pool B: Eastern Province v Griqualand West at Port Elizabeth, Jan 6–8, 2005 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  6. "Lions v Warriors at Johannesburg, Oct 27–30, 2016 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  7. "Cricket Records | Records | CSA T20 Challenge, 2016/17 | Most wickets | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  8. "T20 Global League announces final team squads". T20 Global League. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  9. "Cricket South Africa postpones Global T20 league". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  10. "Mzansi Super League - full squad lists". Sport24. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  11. "Mzansi Super League Player Draft: The story so far". Independent Online. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  12. "Full players list of the teams following Players Draft of BPL T20 2018-19". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
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